Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 57, Number 1, 1989

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UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY (ISSN 0042-143X) EDITORIAL

STAFF

M A X J . EVANS, Editor STANFORD J . LAYTON, Managing Editor

'

MIRIAM B . MURPHY, Associate Editor

ADVISORY BOARD O F EDITORS KENNETH L . CANNON II, Salt Lake City, 1989 ARLENE H . EAKLE, Woods Cross, 1990 J O E L C . JANETSKI, Provo, 1991 ROBERT S . MCPHERSON, Blanding, 1989 CAROL A. O ' C O N N O R , Logan, 1991 RICHARD W . SADLER, Ogden, 1991

HAROLD SCHINDLER, Salt Lake City, 1990 GENE A. SESSIONS, Bountiful, 1989

GREGORY C . THOMPSON, Salt Lake City, 1990 Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928 to publish articles, documents, and reviews contributing to knowledge of Utaih's history. T h e Quarterly is published four times a year by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101. Phone (801) 533-6024 for membership and publications information.

Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, and the bimonthly Newsletter upon payment of the annual dues: individual, $15.00; institution, $20.00; student and senior citizen (age sixty-five or over), $10.00; contributing, $20.00; sustaining, $25.00; patron, $50.00; business, $100.00.

Materials for publication should be submitted in duplicate accompanied by return postage and should be typed double-space, with footnotes at the end. Authors are encouraged to submit material in a computer-readable form, on 5 ^ inch M S - D O S or P C - D O S diskettes, standard ASCII text file.

Additional information on requirements is available from the managing editor. Articles represent the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Utah State Historical Society.

Second class postage is paid at Sailt Lake City, Utah.

Postmaster: Send form 3579 (change of address) to Utah Historical Quarterly, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101.

HZSTORZCiLZ^ a U i L R T E R L i r

Contents W I N T E R 1989 / V O L U M E 57 / N U M B E R 1

IN T H I S ISSUE

3

U T A H ' S GAMBLE W I T H P A R I - M U T U E L BETTING IN T H E EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

BRUCE N . WESTERGREN

4

WARREN METCALF

24

DONALD Q . CANNON

36

A PRECARIOUS BALANCE: T H E N O R T H E R N UTES AND T H E BLACK HAWK WAR ANGUS M. CANNON: F R U S T R A T E D M O R M O N MINER

APPLAUSE, ATTACK, AND AMBIVALENCE—VARIED RESPONSES T O FAWN M. BRODIE'S NO MAN KNOWS MY HISTORY NEWELL

G . BRINGHURST

SHATTERING T H E VASE: T H E RAZING OF T H E O L D SALT LAKE THEATRE RONALD W . WALKER AND ALEXANDER

M . STARR

46

64

BOOK REVIEWS

89

BOOK NOTICES

100

T H E C O V E R Boys and a few girls and adults lined up in front of the old Salt Lake Theatre for thefinal performances o / T h e Iron Horse on September 12, 1925. The movie, directed by John Ford, was described by the Salt Lake Tribune as a "spectacular cinema record of the linking of America, based on historical records. " Shipler Collection, Utah State Historical Society.

© Copyright 1989 Utah State Historical Society

Books reviewed GARY B . PETERSON and LOWELL C .

BENNION.

Sanpete Scenes: A Guide to

Utah's Heart

SUE JENSEN WEEKS

89

LESLIE T . K E L E N and SANDRA T . FULLER,

eds. The Other Utahns: A Photographic Portfolio RICHARD O . ULIBARRI

90

Mormon Polygamous Families: Life in the

JESSIE L . EMBRY.

Principle

DAVID A. HALES

91

The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West . . . NEWELL G . BRINGHURST

92

J . B L O M B E R G . Navajo Textiles: The William Randolph Hearst Collection A N N HANNIBALL

94

ed. Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1840-1890.

V o l . 7: 1854-1860 STANLEY B . KIMBALL

95

PATRICIA NELSON LIMERICK.

NANCY

KENNETH L . HOLMES,

J O S E P H E . STEVENS.

American Adventure

Hoover Dam: An CRAIG FULLER

96

J O H N H O Y T W I L L I A M S . A Great and

Shining Road: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroad

M A R L O W E C . ADKINS, J R .

97

A R L E N E S C A D R O N , ed. On Their Own:

Widows and Widowhood in the American Southwest, 1848-1939 KATHERINE A. HALVERSON

98

n i l HORSE RACE GAMBUNG!

In this issue

Hone mcing means gambling.

Gantbling mean* dtstrca*. torrow and h«utacne.

To get rid of one you mu*t 60 •way with the other.

Every community that Ka« Had race meeta and the gambhng that goes with them, reports an increase in vice and crime during and following the r«cMc MMon. Race track gambling fosters and enoouragea gmmbling of other types Busineaa suffer* aitd the morals o( the community become corrupted.

Bov* and girk partake of the vicious influence and are led into waywardness and sin.

Let us free Utah from this evil.

There is only one way to do ^ais and that is to REPEAL THE RACING LAW. Amendmanl* will do no good.

KILL HORSE RACE GAM _BL11*1 :

Controversies and conflicts run through history like warp and woof. Our attempts to understand them often provide perspective on today's events. The campaign to establish state-controlled horse racing and pari-mutuel betting in 1925, for example, elicited some of the same arguments one hears today concerning a state-run lottery.

Surprisingly, a majority of Utah legislators agreed with the racing bill's sponsor, and Utahns — Front page box in the February 7, 1927, issue of the Deseret News. generally opposed to gambling on moral grounds — began to place legal bets at racetracks in July. As the first article in this issue points out, however, the gamble with gambling was short-lived.

The second article presents a revisionist view of the worst Indian conflict in the state's history, the Black Hawk War. Traditional histories often depict it as an aberration, a violent reaction to a relatively minor frontier incident, ignoring years of Ute unrest over white encroachment and broken promises.

The next piece looks at Angus Cannon's mining career. This LDS church leader poured money and years of effort into his various mining claims, all the while agonizing over the appropriateness of his pursuit of mineral wealth.

Ambivalence was one of the milder reactions to Fawn Brodie's 1945 biography of Joseph Smith. Given her "naturalistic perspective," the book was bound to create heated controversy. Ironicafly, the fourth article asserts, a more comprehensive and balanced study of the prophet has yet to appear, and No Man Knows My History continues to influence the writing of early Mormon history.

The final article returns readers to the twenties and the razing of the Salt Lake Theatre, an early and well-documented preservation controversy.

Completed in 1862, the building represented one of the great cultural achievements of the pioneer period. Although cries of outrage over its demolition in 1928 have faded, mention of the old playhouse still stirs feelings of nostalgia and regret in older Utahns that replicas of the structure do not assuage.

Utah's Gamble with Pari-mutuel Betting in the Early Twentieth Century

BY BRUCE N. WESTERGREN

Harness and regular horse races were sometimes included on the same day's card early in the century. These trotters were photographed by Bill Shipler at the Utah State Fairgrounds track on October 1, 1907. USHS collections.

H O R S E RACING IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT SPORTS;

popular in Europe during the Middle Ages, its history extends at least Mr. W^estergren is a research historian in Provo, Utah. He expresses his appreciation to Dr. Thomas G. Alexander of Brigham Young University for his encouragement and editorial assistance.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

as far as the Roman Empire.^ Spanish conquistadors, French traders, and British settlers brought horse racing to North America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the sport accompanied American pioneers on their westw^ard trek across the continent.^ During the late nineteenth and early tw^entieth centuries horse racing not only grew^ and spread in range and popularity, it also vs^ent through some important changes in organization and administration.

Instead of one-heat matches between local favorites the sport became more organized and formal. In place of competitions through town streets or open meadowland, backers across the country financed the construction of a number of large, permanent oval tracks, built according to an agreed-upon pattern and standardized length and capable of fielding a number of horses for a single race. Uniform contest rules were established during this time as well.

With the sport's increasing standardization and formality there emerged a professional class of track officials and employees. Starters, judges, jockeys, and stable hands, once chosen from among the local townspeople, now became full-time professionals, trained and certified by professional occupational associations according to established requirements. Each racing official sought to ensure the highest level of integrity in each match, to protect the public from unscrupulous bookmakers and bunco artists, and to make sure that spectators saw competition of the highest order.

In spite of these efforts to guarantee honest competition, social reformers of the early twentieth century repeatedly attacked the professional standards of the racing associations and the morality of the sport as a whole.^ These crusaders saw horse racing as the very epitome of the evils of gambling and its devastating impact on society.

Stung by these criticisms, the professional racing associations sought to maintain strict discipline among their members and enforce sanctions against the wayward. This self-enforcement, along with the publicity it received, demonstrated the groups' abilities to police themselves and helped save racing from complete extinction under 1 Teresa McLean, The English at Play in the Middle Ages (Berkshire, England: Kensal Press, n.d.), pp. 18-23.

2Stephen Longstreet, Win or Lose (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1977), pp. 29-30, 34-35, 186-187; John M. Findlay, People of Chance (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 20-24, 36-39.

3 For a general history of the Progressive reform movement during this period see Robert H. Weibe, The Search for Order, 1877-1920 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1967); and Robert M. Crunden, Ministers of Reform (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1982; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984).

Pari-mutuel Betting

7

government probes and oppressive legislation introduced by Progressive elements in the early IQOOs."* In many ways racing developments in Utah paralleled those on the national scene.^ Horse racing enjoyed a large following in Utah both before and after statehood. Local races were fairly common occurrences during Utah's territorial period. By 1909, however, professionals were organizing and supervising races in various parts of the state on a regular basis, adopting the same standard rules and procedures used elsewhere in the country. These meets, which usually ran from late May through the end of September or early October, were held principally at three tracks — the Utah State Fairgrounds at Salt Lake City, the Lagoon track near Farmington in Davis County, and the Buena Vista track at the Weber County Fairgrounds outside of Ogden^ — although races were held on a regular basis in other counties during this period, usually at the county fairgrounds in conjunction with the county fair.

In spite of the Progressive movement's penchant for lobbying for state control of questionable enterprises, by 1910 Utah still had no state agency authorized by law to regulate and monitor horse racing and the bookmaking that inevitably accompanied it. Bookmakers, in fact, were hired and licensed by the tracks themselves to handle most of the betting.^ The perception of dishonesty associated with racing activities, particularly the use of bookies by the tracks to handle wagering, generated a great deal of opposition to the sport among reform elements in the state as it had elsewhere across the country. From 1910 through 1913 two of the major Salt Lake City newspapers, the Salt Lake Herald and the Deseret News, published a lengthy series of editorials describing *See Melvin L. Adelman, A Sporting Time (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986), pp. 27-89; and Bryan Field, "Horse Racing," in Sports' Golden Age, ed. Allison Danzig and Peter Brandwein (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948), pp. 86-110.

5 The author is grateful to the Charles Redd Foundation for sponsoring this study of Utah racing and to the staff of the Utah State Archives for their help in locating state documents related to the Horse Racing Commission.

6See "Interest in Ogden Race Horse Meeting" and "Seven Stakes for Horsemen," Salt Lake Tribune, May 15, 1910, p. 23; "Big Entry List is Assured for Races," SLT, May 17, 1910, p. 10; "Fixing Race Track for the Gallopers," SLT, May 19, 1910, p. 10; "Prominent Horseman Arrives with News," SLT, May 20, 1910, p. 12; and "Horsemen Coming to Salt Lake City," ^ZT, May 29, 1910, p.

26. Crowds going to the opening of the Ogden track were so large that the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and Oregon Short Line arranged for special trains to run between Salt Lake and Ogden for those wishing to attend the races in Weber County. ("Horses Begin to Arrive for Races," SLT, May 20, 1910, p. 12; "Large Crowd Attends Races," SLT, May 26, 1910, pp. 10, 11; and "Horse Races Feature Event at Junction City," SLT, May 30, 1910, p. 9.) An antiracing editorial in the Salt Lake Herald on June 2, 1909, put the number of spectators at the races in Ogden on Memorial Day at 7,000 and the number of bookies handling the wagers at fifteen. '"Interest in Ogden Race Horse Meeting," Salt Lake Tribune, May 15, 1910, p. 23; and "Horsemen Coming to Salt Lake City," SLT, May 29, 1910, p. 26.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

the misery and mischief they believed were caused by horse racing.

Each argued in favor of banning racing from the state. The reasons listed included the *'fixing" of races by dishonest horse owners and jockeys who "fleeced the public" rather than providing good, honest sport; the loss of spectators' money in wagering at the track, depriving honest local merchants of sales and profits; the rise in crime that generally accompanied racing meets; and the moral impact of horse race gambling on individuals and families.^ The first legislative success against horse racing in Utah came on February 17, 1913, when Gov. WiUiam Spry signed an antiracing bill into law. Introduced by Charles R. Mabey, the bifl had passed the legislature after a month of acrimonious debate.^ The 1913 ban was eventually overturned in the 1925 session of the legislature. The challenge started on February 19, 1925, when Rep. Charles Redd from San Juan County introduced a biU in the House to reestablish horse racing in the state. In an effort to avoid the excesses of a decade earlier, Redd's bill called for the organization of a state horse racing commission, gave it the authority to regulate the sport in the state, and also legalized the pari-mutuel system of race track betting. ^^ The proposal met favorable reception in both the House and Senate. The House passed the bifl on March 7, 1925, by a vote of 41 Âť''^v\\ oiGambling," Deseret News, ]unc A, 1909, p. 4; " I t Does Not P a y , " DA^, June 23, 1909, p. 4; "Kill the Kriebel Bill" and " W h y This Delay?" DN, February 1, 1913, p. 4; " T h e Argument for Gambling," DN, February 3, 1913, p. 4. The Salt Lake Herald-Republican accused some members of the Utah House of Representatives who had supported legislation favoring a more moderate stance on horse race betting of being in league with the state's horse racing interests and accepting bribes in exchange for favorable laws. ("Davis County Men and Women to Act against Gambling," SLH-R, February 2, 1913; and "House Passes Bill against Pool-Selling," Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 1913, pp. 1, 8.) None of these allegations were ever proved.

9The House passed the bill on February 5, 1913, by a vote of 44-0; and the Senate on February 7, 1913, by a vote of 17-1. ("House Passes Bill against Pool-selling," Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 1913, pp. 1, 8; "Anti-Pool Selling Bill Passes Senate," SLT, February 8, 1913, p. 9; "Race Betting Bill Signed by Spry," SLT, February 18, 1913, p. 9.) In final form, the Utah law made various types of bookmaking and horse race related forms of gambling a felony punishable by a fine up to $2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year. (Chapter 9, Laws of Utah, 1913.) io House Journal (1925), p. 290; "House and Senate Sessions in Brief," Salt Lake Tribune, February 20, 1925, p. 11.

According to the Deseret News, there were at least two previous attempts to reestablish racing in the state, one in the 1921 session and the other in the 1923 session. ("Budget Bill Due to Reach House Monday," DN, March 9, 1925, section 2, p. 1.) Although no contemporary record can be found of the attempt in 1921, in 1923 Representative George J . Constantine, Grand County, introduced a bill similar to Redd's. The measure was reported favorably out of committee on February 26, but it was killed by the House on March 8. {House Journal [1923], pp. 297, 381-382, 552.)

Redd himself was a lifelong enthusiast of the sport. One of his cousins, John Redd, recalled that when Charles Redd was a youth in Bluff, Utah, he had a pony named Ted that he used to ride around town, trying to find someone to race against him. According to John Redd's recollections, Charles Redd was almost unbeatable on that horse. (Oral history interview with John Redd by Gregory Maynard, July 27, 1973, pp. 1-2. Transcript, Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Ut.)

Pari-mutuel Betting

9

to 4, with ten members absent.^^ Senate action quickly followed, with the bill winning approval on March 11 by a vote of 12 to 5, with three members absent.^^ Gov. George Dern signed the bifl on March 14, 1925, and the law went into effect May 12, 1925.^^ Those who voted for the 1925 measure did so because they believed that horse racing had become a clean and respectable sport; that competition in the races would encourage breeders to sire faster, stronger horses; that racing would bring new sources of revenue into the state, and that the sport would give local businesses a shot in the arm. Those who opposed the measure used many of the arguments of a decade earlier. They believed race track gambling was immoral and a menace to the community. The sport was again referred to as the "most vicious form of gambling" that would bring back the undesirable riffraff that had forced elimination of the sport in 1913.^* a House Journal (1925), p. 514; "Bill to Allow Racing at State Fair Is Passed by Lower Legislative Body," Salt Lake Tribune, March 8, 1925, p. 10; "Budget Bill Due to Reach House Monday," Deseret News, March 9, 1925, section 2, p. 1.

'2 "Horse Racing Bill Passes in Senate and Goes to D e r n , " Deseret News, March 12, 1925, p. 5; "Race Bill Is Now up to D e r n , " Salt Lake Tribune, March 12, 1925, p. 14.

13 " D e r n Approves Eighteen Bills," Salt Lake Tribune, March 15, 1925, p. 18. i*See " H o r s e Racing Bill Passes in Senate and Goes to D e r n , " Deseret News, March 12, 1925, p. 5; "Race Bill Now Is up to D e r n , " Salt Lake Tribune, March 12, 1925, p. 14; and "Horse Racing to Open in S.L. Last of M a y , " DN, April 7, 1925, section 2, p. 1.

^'

.HORSE R ACIN UTAH AGRICULTL't.

WILLIAM I'

SUMMER MEET, JULY 2-AUGUST 1

Running Horse Races Today P t a l t State Fs .*••• €^.'. 'ownds I

7 R u n n i n g Horse- ' ' First R i Purses from $400 to $25W f.

400 lhornu«ht-r-4 h,.r«r» riJtVn h-. ,

...

.

EARLY FEATURE RACKS JULY 4 INDEPi

*ai*l«Mtstfj.€! S-^j.Tfrrr Advertisement in the Salt Lake Telegram ran for several days in early July 1925.

LTAI!

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Utah Historical Quarterly

After its passage the state moved quickly to implement the new law. Redd had recommended three candidates for the racing commission: Brigham F. Grant, J . Will Knight, and John C. Lynch.^^ The governor, however, chose a somewhat different slate, naming Brigham F, Grant — then general manager of the Deseret News and a brother of LDS church president Heber J . Grant — as chairman; Gage B. Rodman; and James H. Waters as secretary,^^ The new law not only created the commission and defined its powers, it also carried stipulations concerning the licensing and scheduling of meets. These conditions limited racing in any one county to two meets per calendar year, neither of which could last for more than thirty racing days from date of commencement, and outlawed all private betting and bookmaking on and off the track. In its place the statute substituted pari-mutuel or cooperative betting. ^^ The pari-mutuel system had several advantages over bookmaking. First, the odds in a race could not be fixed ahead of time by a bookie, horse owner, or jockey. Under the pari-mutuel system the odds were based on the total money collected from wagers placed at the track. As a result, the bettors were really wagering among themselves rather than against a bookie with fixed, arbitrary odds. Under the pari-mutuel system, after a percentage had been paid to the state, to the track owners — to cover their operating expenses— and to the winner of the race, the remaining cash pool created from the wagers placed on the race was divided among those who held winning tickets.

The more money bet, the larger the cash pool for the race and the more favorable the odds and the payoff from the contest.^^ Bets were placed by depositing money into a machine that issued the bettor a validated ticket with the description of the wager on it and *5 "Bill to Allow Racing at State Fair Is Passed by Lower Legislative House," Salt Lake Tribune, March 8, 1925, p. 10.

'6"Horse Racing to Open in S. L. Last of M a y , " Deseret News, April 7, 1925, p. 7. Copies of the original letters of appointment are found in Correspondence, State Departments — Racing Commission, Utah State, 1925-1928. Correspondence, George H. Dern Papers, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

Each commissioner was appointed for a two-year term.

17For text of the Redd Act see Chapter 77, Laws of Utah, 1925.

The use of the pari-mutuel system was not new in the state. Utah had used this method at least twice before 1913, both times unsuccessfully. However, this system of betting had saved the sport of horse racing in other states, including Kentucky, and Redd believed it was worth another try here. (See "Two Bills against Horse Race Wagers," Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1913, p. 3; "Race Meets Depend on Fate of Bills," SLT, January 27, 1913, p. 8. For the Kentucky experience, see Jack Sallee, "Iron Bookmakers Save Racing G a m e , " SLT, February 9, 1913, sporting section, pp. 1, 2.)

18 M. A. Merrill, "Betting Board Is Explained," Salt Lake Tribune, June 28, 1925, p. 21; "Horse Racing to Start T o d a y , " SLT, July 2, 1925, p. 24; and "Lizette Creates Sensation in Splendid Run at Races," SLT, July 3, 1925, p. 11. For a detailed discussion of the math involved in calculating the cash returned to winning betters, see Fred S. Buck, Horse Race Betting, rev. ed. (New York: Arco Publishing Company, 1971), pp. 96-107.

Pari-mutuel Betting

Racing officials pictured in the Salt Lake Telegram, July 2, 1925, included W. J. Parker, vice-president, Utah Racing Association; C. V. Henderson, paddock judge; Lester Dean, starter; M. P. Morrison, judge; William Patrick Kyne, general manager, Utah Agricultural and Racing Association; C. W. Primrose, judge; H. C. Clark, steward; J. H. Waters, secretary of the URA and judge.

11

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Utah Historical Quarterly

which served as the claim ticket for a winning bet. The minimum wager was $2.00, but the machine dispensed tickets in larger sums for the big spenders. The machines recorded the number of tickets sold on each horse and kept a running total for the field as a whole.

The machines sold three types of tickets that allowed a bettor to back a horse to "straight" or " w i n , " "place," or "show" (first, second, and third places, respectively). This ticket system was universally used at all tracks where the pari-mutuel system was functioning.

The rules placed no limit on the number of tickets a bettor could buy.

He might put money down on every horse in the race if he chose.

However, payoff came only if the participant held a ticket for a horse that finished in one of the first three positions.

Support for the 1925 measure came from several quarters. Editorial opinion, unlike the comments of a decade earlier, viewed the new law quite favorably;^^ even the Mormon-owned Deseret News assumed a moderate stance on the issue.^° One notable exception, however, was an editorial by Edward H. Anderson that appeared in the August 1925 issue of the LDS church's most important magazine, the Improvement Era. Anderson blasted the Redd Act as a "grave, not to say criminal, moral mistake," and recommended righting the wrong by voting out the entire legislature in the next election.^^

'9See " T h e 'Sport of Kings,' " Salt Lake Tribune, March 18, 1925, p. 6; "Horse Racing in U t a h , " ^ Z r , June 28, 1925, section 2, p. 2; and "Racing Season H e r e , " ^Z-T, July 2, 1925, p. 6.

20See " T h e Sixteenth Legislature," Deseret News, March 13, 1925, p. 4; "Legislature Devotes Greatest Efforts to Clarifying Statutes," DN, March 13, 1925, section 2, p. 1; and "Horse Racing," DN, May 22, 1925, p. 4. In the May 22 article, the Z)A'^ extolled the positive aspects of legalized horse racing: " T h e all-important thing in the revival of horse racing in Utah after careful supervision of a special commission, is to encourage the breeding of better horses. To many . . . there is nothing finer . . . than a superior, well bred horse. . . .

"Not only will the new law encourage the raising of fine horses for the race track and the exhibition ring, but all breeds and classes of horses in the state will be improved. . . . This will be a great asset to the state from an economic as well as other points of view, and its beneficial results will reach to every phase of the livestock industry. Particularly will this be true if races are held in connection with county fairs and local horses are bred to participate in them. . . . " T h e law has been so carefully framed that the welfare of the people and the community as a whole will be safeguarded, and those evils which in the past have attended horse racing in some localities will be kept to a minimum. . . . The people of the state should give their hearty co-operation and assistance in establishing and maintaining this high standard. If they will do this, then good and not evil will come out of this revival of the 'sport of kings.'

It is possible that the complete turnaround in the newspaper's attitude toward horse racing was due to the appointment of Brigham F. Grant, Heber J . Grant's brother and general manager of the Deseret News, as first chairman of the commission. It is also possible that Redd had the potential opposition of the LDS church in mind when he recommended Grant. While the evidence necessary to decide the point is lacking. Grant's presence on the commission did seem to reduce tensions between the state and the church and allowed the commissioners the room they needed to do their job.

21 Edward H. Anderson, "Betting on Horse Races," Improvement Era 28 (August 1925):1001-2.

Anderson is listed in the magazine as co-editor with Heber J . Grant; the extent of Grant's participation

Pari-mutuel Betting

13

Businessmen in towns where race tracks were located strongly supported the new law. Believing that racing in Utah would become as popular as it had been fifteen years earlier, merchants actively supported efforts to bring the sport to their communities. The Ogden Chamber of Commerce, for instance, appointed a committee to work with the new State Racing Commission to obtain a permit for the city.^^ Hotel operators in Salt Lake City, optimistic about the benefits the resumption of racing would bring them, circulated petitions of support for the sport.^^ Indirect evidence for the popularity of horse racing can be seen in the number of applications the commission received for racing licenses from all over the state. Many applications were filed between the day the law was signed by Dern in March and the day the commission officially opened for business on May 12.^^^ Almost all of the applications were approved after the commission met with the petitioners in an informal hearing. One exception, though, was the in writing the monthly editorials is not known. It seems likely, however, in light of subsequent events, that Anderson acted as the managing editor with responsibility for the actual day-to-day operations of the periodical. Grant probably acted in an advisory capacity and did not actually screen or approve articles before publication. He may not have even known the content of Anderson's comments until the August issue was off the press.

22 " O g d e n C h a m b e r P l a n s to A s k for R a c e M e e t , " Deseret News, April 7, 1925, p . 6. It was originally anticipated that the races could be held at an old track west of the city, near the old Globe mills.

Although deteriorated from years of disuse, the Chamber felt the facility could be refurbished in time to hold meets that summer. When a permit was finally obtained from the state, it was decided instead to hold the races at the county fairgrounds track east of town.

23 George O. Relf, manager of the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City, for example, once estimated that the elimination of horse racing in 1913 cost him 2,000 customers, compared with his 1912 figures, that he believed would have come as race spectators registered at his hotel. ("Race Meets Depend on Fate of Bills," Salt Lake Tribune, January 27, 1913, p. 8.) Desire for increased business during the racing season motivated businessmen to support the bill. Six operators of major hotels in the Salt Lake City area showed their support of a racing license for the Utah State Fair Association for contests at the fairgrounds through September 1925 in a letter to the commission dated April 16, 1925. (Fred J. Leonard, et al., to the Utah State Racing Commission, April 16, 1925. Administrative Correspondence, Utah State Racing Commission Papers, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.) Additional revenue also played a pivotal role in the decision of the Farmington City Council, expressed to the commission in a memo dated May 7, 1925, endorsing the plans of Leo Dandurand and his associates to hold meets at Lagoon during the summer of 1925.

2* In an informal meeting of the commission held April 21, 1925, those present included the Executive Committee and Grand Stand Committee from the Utah State Fair Association, who wanted a license for racing at the fairgrounds; agents for Leo Dandurand and a Montreal syndicate, a Mr. Dewer, Mr. Boyle, Mr. Irvine, and Mr. Decker, requesting a license for racing at Lagoon; Mr. W. J . Parker, a representative from Weber County, requesting a license for races in Ogden; delegates from Spanish Fork and Provo, who wanted to hold races in Provo; and a representative from Cache County who wanted permission to hold races during their county fair. (Minutes of the Utah State Racing Commission, April 21, 1925. Administrative Correspondence, Utah State Racing Commission papers, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.) In a meeting held later that same day, the Commission voted unanimously to grant a permit to the Utah State Fair Association to race at the state fairgrounds but refused to issue a license to Lagoon and Weber County at that time. However, the Commission told those two applicants that if they applied for racing in 1926, their requests would be granted. (Minute book of the Utah State Racing Commission, p. 2 [April 21, 1925]; pp. 3-8 [May 11, 1925]. Utah State Racing Commission Papers). A meeting held May 19, 1925, however, overturned the decision about Lagoon, and a license for the 1925 season was granted. (Minute Book of the Utah State Racing Commission, p. 12, May 19, 1925, Utah State Racing Commission Papers.)

Thrills and Color Feature Opening Day of Races

These Salt Lake Telegram photographs of opening day, July 2, 1925, show Lorene Holmes presenting a floral horseshoe to Lizette, winner of the inaugural handicap. Looking on are Heber J. Grant, George H. Dern, B. F. Grant, andJ. H. Waters. In upper right, Davie L. Mills, winner, with Blair Mitchell up.

application of George O. Relf, manager of the Hotel Utah. Under questioning by James H. Waters, Relf, for no apparent reason, called Waters a "Dirty Damn Liar" and was ejected from the meeting.^^ Although many local horses were entered in the races at the state fairgrounds and Lagoon, sponsorship of the meets at these locations fell into the hands of two out-of-state syndicates. The Utah Agricultural and Racing Association^^ and the Utah Horse Breeding and

25 "Application of George O. Relf," Administrative Correspondence, Utah State Racing Commission Papers; Minute Book of the Utah State Racing Commission, p. 11, May 13, 1925.

26The Utah Agricultural and Racing Association was incorporated in Utah on June 18, 1925, with corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City; it was occasionally referred to as the Utah State Racing Association ("Race Men Rush Work at T r a c k , " Salt Lake Tribune, June 24, 1925, p. 15; "Horse Racing to Start T o d a y , " SLT, July 2, 1925, p. 24; Minute Book of the Utah State Racing Commission, pp.

14-15, June 24,'1925. Fred Dahnken and William P. Kyne, both of San Francisco, controlled the majority of the outstanding common stock, each owning 250 shares. The remaining stockholders and their shares were W. J . Parker, Ogden, Utah (15 shares); Harry Nolan, Denver, Colorado (1 share); and Sol Tichner, San Francisco (1 share). Corporate officers at this time were Harry Nolan, president and direc-

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Racing Association^^ were incorporated in the state of Utah but were completely owned and controlled from outside the state. Although these companies had a virtual monopoly on racing at the state fairgrounds and the Lagoon track, local racing interests never filed a complaint. Ultimately, the backing of the out-of-state interests worked to Utah's advantage, since they brought in a large amount of outside capital. This additional influx of money did a great deal to improve the local economies of Salt Lake City and Davis County.

Attendance at the opening race of the season, held at the state fairgrounds on July 2, 1925 — the first run under the auspices of the Redd Act — confirmed the optimistic outlook. Seating at the fairgrounds track was filled almost to capacity, with crowd estimates running between 3,500 and 10,000. Local newspapers pronounced the event a complete success.^^ The same articles also noted the attendance of President Heber J. Grant, other LDS church authorities.

Gov. George H. Dern, and Salt Lake City Mayor C. Clarence Neslen and their parties.^^ Financially, the races were also extremely successful. An audit of the commission's financial records conducted by the state auditor's office in February 1927 covered the first year and a half of the commission's existence, from May 12, 1925, through the end of the calendar year 1926. The report estimated that horse racing had brought the state additional revenue totaling $129,646.05.^°

tor; W. J. Parker, vice-president and director; and William P. Kyne, secretary-treasurer and director.

The company's main purpose was "racing, breeding and improving the breed horses, and conducting races and contests of speed," and, to that end, owning, controlling, leasing, and dealing in livestock, real estate, and securities. ("Articles of Incorporation of Utah Agricultural and Racing Association," Articles of Incorporation, Secretary of State's Office, Utah State Archives.) The organization, as part of its license agreement with the State Racing Commission and the Utah State Fair Association, spent well over $50,000 in repairing the horse track at the fairgrounds and building new grandstands.

27The Utah Horse Breeding and Racing Association was incorporated in Utah in 1925, with corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City. It had an authorized capital stock of $50,000. As part of its agreement with the Utah State Racing Commission, it spent over $40,000 rebuilding and equipping the horse track at Lagoon for racing. The association maintained a monopoly on racing at Lagoon throughout the existence of the Redd Act. (Minute Book of the Utah State Racing Commission, p. 21, February 20, 1926.) The majority stockholder was Leo Dandurand, a Chicago resident. Information on other stockholders and the number of shares owned is not available.

28"Rebuilt Track, New Stand to Greet Patrons," Deseret News, July 2, 1925, p. 21; "Lizette Creates Sensation in Splendid Run at Races," Salt Lake Tribune, July 3, 1925, p. 11.

29The story in the Salt Lake Tribune the next day featured a photograph of Heber J . Grant and Governor Dern in a box seat near the track.

30 Leon D. Garrett, "Report of Audit: Utah State Racing Commission, 1925-1926," p. 5. Audits and Financial Reports, Utah State Racing Commission Papers. This figure included $115,018.15 paid to the State Fair Association for the meets it sponsored at the fairgrounds and the income it derived from issuing racing permits of its own after receiving its license from the commission. The commission itself showed a profit of $14,627.90 for this period.

September 5, 1925, view by Bill Shipler of the Utah State Fairgrounds race track and grandstand. USHS collecitons.

Because of the revenues brought in, broad community support, and large spectator turnouts, the races seemed destined to become a permanent part of Utah's sport scene. Trouble, however, was gathering on the horizon. Increasing public concern over the moral impact of the sport, eventual loss of support from the business community, and, most important, charges of corruption against the state racing commissioners eventually led to a second legislative ban in 1927.

The assault against racing began September 16, 1925, when the Utah State Fair Association and the State Racing Commission filed a suit against the Salt Lake City Commission in Third District Court in Salt Lake City. The dispute concerned passage of a city ordinance that declared pari-mutuel betting a form of gambling and therefore banned within the city limits. This had a direct impact on horse racing, since the state fairgrounds were inside the corporate limits of Salt Lake City.^^ The district court found for the defendants, but the

31 "Racing System Case Is Opened," Salt Lake Tribune, September 16, 1925, p. 22. City Attorney Will H. Folland, representing the defendants, argued that the state's racing law was invalid for three reasons: horse racing was a game of chance, not skill, and was therefore gambling; the wording in the title of the law itself covered more than one subject, rendering the act illegal; and it was special legisla-

Pari-mutuel Betting

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plaintiffs appealed to the Utah State Supreme Court. The higher court reversed the lower court's decision, ruling that horse racing was not a game of chance and that it therefore did not constitute gambling. Their decision, announced August 6, 1926, put an end to the judicial attack on horse racing in Utah.^^ A few months later, however, Redd himself dealt what eventually became the deathblow to the sport by announcing during his reelection campaign in late 1926 that he would seek repeal of the law during the 1927 session of the legislature.^^ He later reaffirmed this position in a letter to D. W. Parratt, secretary of the Utah Education Association, and he also accused the State Racing Commission of failure to enforce the statute properly.^^ Redd had been given information by George O. Relf and a few others that William P. Kyne had paid members of the commission between $25,000 and $50,000 to secure the racing concession at the state fairgrounds, that there had been an illegal telegraph wire installed at the track to send race results to the West Coast before they were officially announced, that commission officials were benefitting heavily from bookmaking, and that the commissioners had also been employed and paid by Kyne as track officials to supervise the races.^^ On January 13, 1927, Redd made good on his promise, introducing HB 4, a proposal to abolish both horse racing and the parimutuel system of gambling.^^ The bill was referred to the House Livestock Committee, which Redd once again chaired, for hearings and recommendation.

tion, which favored the racing interests over the rest of the state's population, giving the racers control over the operation of the pari-mutuel machines. Counsel for the plaintiffs, H. L. Mulliner, maintained that horse racing was a game of skill, not chance, and therefore was not gambling; that, based on a number of authorities, related subjects may be contained in the same act; and that the pari-mutuel machines were open to anyone who wished to place a wager on the race, and were not restricted to a privileged few. ("Argument to End Today in Suit on Racing," Deseret News, September 17, 1925, section 2, p. 1.)

32 "Gaming Part of Race Law Upheld," Deseret News, August 8, 1926, section 2, p. 1; and " T h e Supreme Court on Horse Racing," Salt Lake Telegram, August 6, 1926, p. 5. For the complete text of the State Supreme Court's decision see Utah State Fair Association et at. v. Green et at., 68 Utah 251 (1926).

33 "Racing Law's Repeal Asked," Salt Lake Tribune, January 14, 1927, p. 13.

3+"Author of Racing Law to Ask Repeal by Legislature," Deseret News, December 15, 1926, section 2, p. 1.

35 "House Kills Racing Law; Danger Scented in Call for Vote by Track Friends," Deseret News, February 10, 1927, p. 1; "Accused Holds Charges False," Salt Lake Tribune, February 13, 1927, p. 22.

See also "Racing Probe Started; Redd First Witness," SLT, February 25, 1927, pp. 1, 13, 17; and "Racing Board Probe Is Opened; Three Take Stand," DN, February 25, 1927, pp. 1, 2. ^^ House Journal (1927), p. 78; " R e d d Asks Repeal of Utah Racing L a w , " Deseret News, January 13, 1927, p. 1; and "Racing Law's Repeal Asked," Salt Lake Tribune, January 14, 1927, p. 13. It is interesting to note that while the News made the story its banner headline for that day, the Tribune buried the item halfway back.

18

Utah Historical Quarterly

During three days of public hearings, from January 19 through January 21, the hearing room was jammed with spectators,^^ and a wide variety of testimony was presented. On the first day of hearings, W. H. Folland, Salt Lake City attorney, claimed that crime in Salt Lake City had increased substantially since passage of the Redd Act and stressed the increased law enforcement burden that had resulted. ^^ Others who appeared in favor of total repeal included D. W. Parratt, secretary of the UEA, and the Reverend William T, Scott, representing the Salt Lake Ministerial Association. Both argued the horrible moral costs they believed racing had on society, particularly on children.

Businessmen who appeared before the Redd committee were almost evenly divided on the issue. Some, such as W. T. Denn, a local jeweler, and H. R. Vowles of the Paris Department Store, were unalterably opposed to racing because it both hurt business and destroyed families. Others, such as Fred Baliff, a local manufacturer, and O. D. Coughlin of Walker Brothers Dry Goods Company, on the other hand, favored the continuation of racing but suggested limiting the meets to fewer days. Still others, such as Wayne Decker of the Decker Jewelry Company, were very much in favor of continuing the sport as it was, believing it would eventually add millions of dollars to the wealth of the state.^^ The most vigorous defenders of the sport were two members of the State Fair Board, H. L. Mulliner and E. S. Holmes, who pointed to the increased revenues brought into the state.

37 "Races Increase Crime Declares City Prosecutor," Deseret News, January 19, 1927, section 2, p. 1; "Hearing on Racing Bill Draws Many Spectators," Salt Lake Tribune, January 20, 1927, p. 11; "People Divided on Effects of Horse Race L a w , " Z)A'^, January 20, 1927, section 2, p. 1; "Divergent Views Given on Horse Racing Measure," iSLT, January 21, 1927, p. 11; "Asks Consideration for Race Track Investors," DN, January 21, 1927, section 2, p. 1.

38Folland's claims had little merit. Statistics compiled by the Salt Lake City Police Department for 1925 and 1926, presented below, showed an overall drop in every category, except two.

1926 % Change Category 1925 Burglaries - 8.5 857 784 - 14.0 965 826 Petty larceny - 29.0 171 Holdups 122 - 58.0 Pickpocket 81 34 + 150.0 10 25 Bunco + 41.0 46 65 Grand larceny ("Crime Figures for S. L. Given," Salt Lake Tribune, December 26, 1926, p. 22.)

39 Business opposition to the sport had become widespread. A Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce poll found its members opposed to racing by a margin of 2 to 1, and the Salt Lake Commercial Club unanimously voted to send a petition to the legislature supporting repeal. ("Races Increase Crime Declares City Prosecutor," Deseret News, January 19, 1927, section 2, p. 1; "Seek Repeal of Racing L a w , " DN, February 8, 1927, p. 2.)

Pari-mutuel Betting

19

Editorial support for the sport also deteriorated. The Deseret News, for example, retreating from its more supportive 1925 stand, published a number of editorials demanding repeal of the law by the legislature.*° These articles cited moral and economic arguments for banning the sport.

Redd's repeal proposal was finally reported out of committee on January 24 but not with unanimous backing. Three members of the committee — Redd, N, F. BuUen, and J. G. Pace — filed a majority report favoring the bill, while two members — H. H. Crouch and W. A. Crane — filed a minority report opposing repeal.'^^ The minority report was finally adopted after a great deal of debate, and HB 4 was then placed on the calendar for final consideration.

Redd's racing bill was not the only proposal under consideration; however, his was the only measure to advocate total repeal. Four other proposals made in the House would have amended the racing law, but each would have allowed racing to remain, correcting only what were seen to be some of the more objectionable practices.'^^ The closest contender to Redd's repeal bill was introduced by William J. Holther on January 17, 1927.*^ His measure would have limited racing in the state to one twenty-five day meet each year to be held in conjunction with the Utah State Fair. The proposal was sent to the Committee on Corporations for consideration.

The Holther measure came out of committee on January 22, but, like Redd's bill, without unanimous support.** Four of the committee members signed a majority report favoring the bill but recommending amendments. Two members of the committee filed a minority report opposing the bill, and one member, Mrs. H. S. Tanner of Salt Lake City, refused to sign either report. In the heated debate and political maneuvering that followed on the House floor,

*o"Horse Racing Must G o , " Deseret News, January 14, 1927, p. 4; "Kill Horse Racing," DN, January 21, 1927, p. 4; "Does Utah Want Horse Race Gambling?" DN, February 5, 1927, p. 1; "Wake U p ! " DN, February 5, 1927, p. 4; "Kill Horse Race Gambling," DN, February 7, 1927, p. 1; "Repeal the Racing Law!" DA^, Februarys, 1927, p. 1; "Finish the J o b ! " DA^, February 9, 1927, p. 1; " A Triumph for Right," DN, February i l , 1927, p. 4. The News even went so far as to run a full-page editorial using an advertising format to get its message across. ("Kill Horse Racing!" DN, February 5, 1927, p. 3.) *^ House Journal (1927), p. 100; "Horse Racing Act Produces House Storm," Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1927, pp. 1, 9. *2"Bill to Retain Racing Devised," Salt Lake Tribune, January 17, 1927, p. 3; "Racing Act Now in Committee," SLT, January 19, 1927, p. 8; "Divergent Views Given on Horse Racing Measure," 5 L r , January 21, 1927, p. 11; and "Solons Fight for Decisions on Racing Bill," ^LT, January 22, 1927, pp. 1, 10. *3 "House Waits for Pact Repealing Bill," Deseret News, January 18, 1927, p. 3. **"Solons Fight for Decisions on Racing Bill," Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 1927, pp. 1, 10.

Utah Historical Quarterly

20

both reports were killed, and the bill went to the calendar without recommendation.

Holther's bill came up for final consideration on January 25, 1927. After another stormy debate and fierce maneuvering, the proposal to amend the Redd Act lost by one vote.*^ However, proponents of the bill managed to muster the necessary twenty-eight votes to get the bill up for reconsideration again the next day.*^ In the maneuvering that followed, both the Holther and Redd biUs were referred back to the Livestock Committee for further consideration in the hope that some sort of a compromise could be worked out.*^ Both proposals came out of committee again on February 2, but this time with no recommendation for either one.*^ Final consideration for the Holther measure came on February 8 after another heated debate. During arguments over the bill both Redd and Elias S. Woodruff, a representative from Salt Lake City, made further charges against both the State Racing Commission and the State Fair Board, accusing various members of accepting bribes and racketeering. The Holther bill went down to final defeat by a vote of 24 in favor, 28 opposed.*^

KiU41orse Racing!

Why compromise with an evil? Why temporize with law amendments that mean nothing?

Kill the Racing Law Now The Vulture's Brood T h e Vulture InTit* hona racina to remain in Utali, and gambling •Uya witn it Invite the vulture of ganUinfl to remain in Utah and who lufferi?

Ezparianca everywlitre give* answer to the cpieetioiis The jtnmg aalaried worker.

Hii wife.

Hi* children.

Bu*ine** hou*e*'that pay high taxes to the upkeep of the state.

Home maker*.

The whole economic structure.

S t a J o t s and young people generally PnbHc moral*.

Whereever gamhlina a m t s it is the universal experience that collections by business Brms are bad. Race track bettors do not budget, and bSl* due hre l o a frequently not met. Race track bettor* are poor risk* for people doing an installment bonne**.

Thi* i* an indi*putable fact, and every business man and every house wife in Utah must exert his or her iaflaence to see that the vulture of gamb. ling ii wiped uutfnnm pw^tiee in Utah, and tlie " tiatat war B-iecWIHillilllMr end i* t o s o m d thedeatb k a w of b o n e Radng.^

Keep out the vulture's brood: Vice, ihame, failure, misery, poverty and crime, in Utah by defeating any effort to continue legalized race track gambling in this state.

Men and women of the legislature, the people of Utah are looking to you to bury this vice so deep that it win never raise its murky head again.

Utah has as much wholesome sport as any state in the Union. No person of sober judgment win declare that it needs this unwholesome amusement. Salt Lake or any other city in Utah does not need or want anyof the "floating population." that always follows the races, in every section where race track betting is permitted. There is no reason why Utah, whose moral example has been the admiration of the United States, should become a legal haven for race track touts, bookmakers and gamblers and all the grimy underworld of the sport. Nearly every state in the Union has barred them. f

•5 " H o u s e Refuses Amendments to Utah Racing Law," Deseret News, January 26, 1927, p. 3. The final vote was 27 ayes to 25 nays. Twentyeight votes were necessary to secure passage. *6"Both Race Bills Recommitted as House Votes N a y , " Deseret News, January 27, 1927, p. 3.

•^'Ibid.; " U t a h Assembly Work Is Slowed by Committees," DN, January 28, 1927, p. 3. *8 "Horse Race Bills Put at Head of House Calendar," Deseret News, February 2, 1927, p. 3. *9 " H o u s e Rejects R a c i n g Compromise; Fight to Amend Horse Track Law Fails 28 to 2 4 , " Deseret News, February 9, 1927, pp. 1, 3; "Death Dealt Racing Bill in Lower House," Salt Lake Tribune, February 9, 1927, pp. 1, 10.

And besides all this, there is the corruption and

ruination of some of our own boys and girls.

B

It must not be!

People of Utoh, get in toutJi with yourrepresentative»DitheLegislatureat once. Delay is dangeroui, do it now. Let them know what you want them to do with this evil that menaces our fair state.

Make your protest strong. Let it ring fike thunder ^ JKfpwHjrilearsiy.

Rep^^tfuB Racing Law. Kill Race Track Gam bling.

Full-page call to repeal the 1925 horse racing act appeared in the Deseret News February 5, 1927.

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On February 10 the Redd bill repealing horse racing finally came up for final consideration. After another lengthy debate and further maneuvering, the measure at long last passed the House by a vote of 34 yeas, 20 nays, and 1 absent.^° Action in the Senate was quick in coming. The bill was introduced into the Senate the same day it was passed in the House, referred to the Committee on Revenue and Taxation, and reported out of committee favorably within an hour.^^ Final action came on February 17, when the repeal bill was passed by a vote of 16 yeas to 2 nays, with 1 absent.^2 Governor Dern signed the act into law on February 24, 1927.53 Although the law had now been repealed, the issue was not yet setded: there remained the charges Redd had made against the State Racing Commission and members of the State Fair Board. Beginning on February 12 Governor Dern, James H. Waters, Brigham F. Grant, William P. Kyne, and the executive committee of the Utah State Fair Association all began demanding a full, open, and honest investigation into the allegations made by Redd and others in the press and on the floor of the House.^'^ On February 14 the House acceded and the Speaker appointed a five-man committee to head the probe.^^ Hearings began in the evening of February 24 at the Chamber of Commerce building in Salt Lake City. Among the first three witnesses called were Charles Redd, George O. Relf, and Brigham F. Grant. It soon became apparent that Redd had acted on nothing better than second-hand information given to him by Relf; he had no personal knowledge of wrongdoing on the part of any of the commissioners or of any member of the State ^'^ House Journal (1927), p. 191; "House Kills Racing Law; Danger Scented in Call for Vote by Track Friends," Deseret News, February 10, 1927, p. 1; "Senate Committee Votes to End Racing; Upper House to Strike Act off Books Forecast," DN, February 11, 1927, p. 1. ^i Senate Journal (1927), p. 249; "Senate Committee Votes to End Racing; Upper House to Strike Act off Books Forecast," Deseret News, February 11, 1927, p. 1. ^^ Senate Journal (1927), p. 314.

53 "Governor Dern Gives Rebuke; Delay in Racing Probe Is Cause," Salt Lake Tribune, February 25, 1927, pp. 1, 17; "Governor Signs Racing Repeal Bill; Dern Again Asks Probe as He Puts End to Gambling," Deseret News, February 24, 1927, p. 1; section 1, p. 2.

5* "Accused Holds Charges False," Salt Lake Tribune, February 13, 1927, p. 22; "Dern Asks Probe of Race Board Attack; Extra Message to House Seeks Truth of Charge," Deseret News, February 14, 1927, pp. 1, 3; House Journal (1927), pp. 213-14. Dern, feeling the House was dragging its heels in the matter, repeated his request on February 24. ("Governor Dern Signs Racing Repeal Bill; Dern Again Asks Probe as He Puts End to Gambling," DTV, February 24, 1927, p. 1; section 2, p. 1; House Journal (1927), pp. 325-27; and "Governor Dern Gives Rebuke; Delay in Racing Probe Is Cause," SLT, February 25, 1927, pp. 1, 17.)

55 "Probe of Racing Board Ordered by Lower House, Deseret News, February 15, 1927, p. 2. The committee consisted of H. H. Crouch, chairman; L . J . Holther; George H. Ryan; A. W. Hansen; and Byron D. Anderson.

22

Utah Historical Quarterly

Fair Board. The only testimony offered by Relf was a belief that he had been double-crossed by the Racing Commission in applying for a racing permit at the state fairgrounds; he had no first-hand information to support any of his allegations.^^ On March 10 the committee made a formal preliminary report to the House. It concluded that although members of the Racing Commission were indeed in the employ of the Kyne syndicate as track officials in addition to their employment by the state — unethical, but not necessarily illegal — there was no evidence to substantiate any of the allegations Redd had made concerning bookmaking and bribery.

However, the committee had not yet had the opportunity to question Kyne, who was too ill to travel from California to Utah to testify, and James H. Waters, who was hospitalized and under strict doctor's orders not to be disturbed. Since they did not wish to issue a final report until they had interviewed these two key witnesses,^'^ the House voted to continue the probe and allow Waters and Kyne to testify.^^ The opportunity to obtain Waters's testimony never came. He died shortly after the preliminary report was issued, and the investigating committee felt it appropriate to close the books on the entire matter.5^ The bribery and bookmaking charges had been disproved, but the ethical question of the commissioners' employment at the track was never fully resolved. With the repeal on the books and the hearings concluded after Waters's death, the matter was permanently dropped.

The horse racing issue reveals some interesting aspects of the relationship between the LDS church and Utah state government during this period. First, church leaders did not attempt to lobby actively for passage of either the Mabey bill in 1913 or Redd's repeal bill in 1927, although the Salt Lake Tribune and the Salt Lake HeraldRepublican both accused the church of such efforts.^^ In fact, both 56 "Racing Probe Started; Redd First Witness," Salt Lake Tribune, February 25, 1927, pp. 1, 13, 17; "Racing Board Probe Is Opened; Three Take Stand," Deseret News, February 25, 1927, pp. 1, 2. ^T House Journal (1927), pp. 565-70.

58"House Votes to Continue Probe of Racing Board," Deseret News, March 11, 1927, p. 2.

59Special Committee to Governor George H. Dern, April 2, 1927, Correspondence, State Departments — Racing Commission, Utah State, 1925-1928; Correspondence, George H. Dern Papers.

60 "Unjustifiable Influences," Salt Lake Tribune, February 8, 1913, p. 6; and "Horse Racing Act Produces House Storm," SLT, January 25, 1927, pp. 1, 9. In 1913 the Tribune accused the First Presidency of the LDS church and the general board of the LDS Deseret Sunday School Union of attempting to establish and direct an organized lobbying effort with members of the church throughout the state against bills that would not completely ban horse racing from the state. In 1927 the Salt Lake HeraldRepublican accused the First Presidency of sending officially called lobbyists to the legislature to ensure passage of the repeal. Neither allegation was ever proved.

It is interesting to contrast the relative political detachment of Mormon church leadership in the 1920s with Brigham Young's firm, guiding hand in directing the affairs of Utah Territory. Although

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Mormon and non-Mormon legislators vigorously denied that the church had ever contacted them on any matter related to the horse racing issue and bitterly resented charges made by the press of collusion with church authorities. The only apparent efforts the LDS church made to secure abolition of the sport were the editorials that ran in the Deseret News.

This issue also illustrates varying attitudes within the LDS church generally and a lack of an organized, monolithic crusade against the sport. At no time during the heated debates on abolition in 1913 or 1927 did the First Presidency take the opportunity to issue an official statement that would have spelled out the church's stand and requested compliance from faithful Mormons living in Utah, nor was this issue discussed at any general conference of the church held in either period. Instead, we find Brigham F. Grant, a brother of President Heber J. Grant and general manager of the church's major organ, the Deseret News, serving as the first chairman of the State Racing Commission, and President Grant attending the opening meet of 1925 with Governor Dern and other notables.

Remarks made by LDS members of the state legislature in 1927 further accentuate these attitudes. In explaining their vote for or against Redd's repeal bill, a number of representatives stated that although they were members of the Mormon church, which had adopted antigambling attitudes years earlier, they felt their greatest responsibility was to the people of Utah as a whole, not just one segment of it. Religious considerations took second place.^^ In their collective opinion the supposed corruption of the horse racing commission, the loss of support from the business community, and what were seen as the detrimental effects of pari-mutuel betting on the morals of the community more than justified the abolition of the sport.

Young delegated a great deal of authority to others, he had a vision of his own about the purpose and ultimate destiny of the territory. He firmly believed the Lord's hand had led the Mormons to the Utah valleys and that the Great Basin region was designated by God to serve as an asylum for the righteous from the evils of the world. Consequently, he believed that, as the prophet of the Lord, he must be constantly involved in territorial politics in order to accomplish the Lord's designs.

The difficulties of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, showed LDS leaders that it was futile to try to maintain an isolationist policy. The arrival of the railroad in 1869 and the mining boom in the late 1800s brought thousands of non-Mormon immigrants, many seeking their fortunes in the mines and others who came to settle, building farms and ranches. Whether church leaders liked it or not, Utah was hooked into the vast commercial network of the United States. Given this situation, it was desirable for the church to move into the mainstream as much as possible, while at the same time using new technology to adapt its message for presentation to a truly national audience.

For this reason, church leaders in the early twentieth century adopted a hands-off policy when it came to politics, except for matters the First Presidency considered grave moral issues. (See Leonard J . Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985], pp. 223-49; and Thomas G. Alexander, Mormonism in Transition [Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986], pp. 16-59.)

61 "Horse Racing Act Produces House Storm," Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1927, pp. 1, 9.

•# i

m

ÂŤ** ^

Indian farmhouse, Spanish Fork, photographed by David A. Burr, courtesy of the LDS Church Historical Department. The two-story adobe building also served as a trading post, and supplies were stored on the upper floor.

A Precarious Balance: The Northern Utes and the Black Hawk War

BY WARREN METCALF

Mr. Metcalf is a graduate student in history at Brigham Young University.

The Black Hawk War

25

as something of an anomaly in the territorial history of Utah. According to the traditional version, the war emerged full-blown from a minor frontier incident into the worst Indian conflict the state has ever known. This interpretation creates an enigma for historians, aside from the obvious fact that major wars do not generally erupt from minor irritations. The problem lies in the underlying assumption that Indian relations in Utah were substantially better than in other western territories. Certainly the Mormon settlers thought this to be the case and perceived that they had a special relationship to the natives, or Lamanites as they called them, because the Indians were believed to be descendants of the house of Israel. Therefore, as the argument goes, the settlers were less inclined to exploit the Indians and were generally more interested in nurturing them as brothers.

The persistence of this myth of better treatment makes the Black Hawk War seem very unlikely and also accounts for the tendency of historians to assign causation of the war to isolated events because that makes better sense in light of the traditional interpretation. In reality, however, the Utes of central Utah experienced much the same treatment as Indians everywhere in the United States. The settlers first expropriated their lands and then, when they resisted or became a nuisance, the government removed them. The Black Hawk War may thus be seen as the hostile phase of this familiar pattern. It grew out of a complex set of circumstances involving the repercussions from Indian troubles in adjoining territories, the loss of Indian farms in Utah, and the failure of the government to fulfill treaty obligations.

The seeds of conflict were sown over a period of many years.

Despite Brigham Young's oft-stated policy that feeding Indians was cheaper than fighting them, relations between the Mormons and the branches of the Northern Ute Indians in Utah Territory were more often precarious than stable. A pattern of intermittent warfare developed early on with hostilities erupting in the Utah VaUey in 1849.

Occasional violence continued into the 1850s with the prolonged hostilities of the Walker War in 1853-54. Following this last episode Brigham Young, acting in his official capacity as Indian superintendent, sought to pacify the Indians by establishing Indian farms at several locations. The most important of these, as far as the Utes were concerned, were the farms at Spanish Fork in Utah County, Twelve Mile Creek in Sanpete County, and Corn Creek near Fillmore in MiUard County.

X H E BLACK H A W K W A R IS OFTEN PORTRAYED

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Actually small reservations, the farms were designed to compensate for the loss of Indian land and game by providing a more sedentary lifestyle and a stable food supply. The farms were short-lived, however, because within a few years the Mormon settlers lost their enthusiasm for maintaining them. With the coming of Johnston's Army in 1858 the Saints had a reason to give up a responsibility they had already ceased to fulfiU, and increasingly the problem of feeding the Indians was seen as an obligation of the federal government. This change in perception also coincided with the outbreak of the Civil War, so that at the very time the Utes were in the greatest need of government assistance the government was least capable of providing it. As a result, the Indian farms deteriorated to such an extent that most Indians abandoned them and took to the territory's mountainous regions.

Unfortunately, the face of the land had changed, with a loss of game and hunting grounds due to the vast influx of Mormon immigration and settlement, and the Utes were no longer able to sustain themselves. Conflict with whites thus became inevitable. The Civil War period was one of general starvation and neglect for the Utes, and dissidents finally reacted in 1865 by commencing a series of raids popularly known as the Black Hawk War. The American Civil War had a profound effect on virtually all tribes living in the West. The natives were perfectly aware that encroachment by white settlers gravely endangered their autonomy and even threatened their existence. As the war in the East siphoned away the federal troops, hostile Indians in many western tribes viewed the situation as an opportunity to strike back. Raiding parties became relatively commonplace on the mail and immigrant trails, and isolated settlements were frequently in danger.

The Utes were keenly aware of these outside influences, as the news of events in neighboring territories rapidly traveled through the Indian grapevine. They were, for example, aware of the attacks being made on the eastern half of the Overland Trail by the Northern and Southern Cheyenne and other Plains tribes. During the crucial winter of 1864-65 the superintendent of Indian Affairs in Utah, Oliver H. Irish, wrote to the commissioner of Indian Affairs and expressed his fears in this regard: Since the breaking out of the troubles again on our Eastern Une, the Indians here are talking of the matter constantly and are greatly excited about it. If it were possible to keep whites from communicating their fears to the Indians it would be much better. The fact that

The Black Hawk War

27

the people are greatly alarmed emboldens and encourages them and unless prompt and thorough means are used to put down the Indians fast it is likely to extend through all of this country and result in the most serious Indian war known to our history.'

Fortunately, Superintendent Irish's worst fears were never realized, but the wars came close enough to the Ute tribal lands to excite and provoke them. They knew of Kit Carson's actions against the Navajos in 1864, and also of Col. Patrick E. Connor's decisive defeat of the Shoshone at the Bear River the previous year. Seeking to forestall the outbreak of similar hostilities is Utah, Superintendent Irish hastily negotiated a settlement with the Utes known as the Spanish Fork Treaty. He explained the reasons for his quick action in the opening statement of this document: ''Owing to the Indian difficulties in the adjoining territories which were having a bad influence upon our Indians and that they were very uneasy about the reports . . . I thought it dangerous to delay negotiations."^ To federal agents like Irish the raiding of small bands of Indians such as those led by Black Hawk could be attributed directly to the circumstances the Indians found themselves in. Undoubtedly, the officials most closely associated with the Ute bands did not see the Black Hawk raiding as anything more, as one Ute historian has put it, "than an intensifying of the raids which had been conducted against the Mormon intruders since 1849."^ Superintendent Irish never mentioned the conflict in his 1865 report to the commissioner of Indian Affairs. The following year the new superintendent. Col. F. H. Head, finally informed the commissioner that " a small band of outlaws, under the command of a chief named Black Hawk, have been engaged in hostilities for nearly two years."* Later, as the hostilities increased in intensity. Head warned that unless Black Hawk was suppressed an Indian war "of considerable magnitude may be inaugurated."^ Clearly, those most closely associated with the Uinta Utes saw the raiding as the work of a few dissident Indians who were disgruntled and hungry. i Q . H. Irish to W. P. Dole, February 14, 1865, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Utah Superintendency, 1866-1869, RG 75, National Archives, Washington D.C., microfilm copy at Brigham Young University Library, Provo, Utah.

2 Spanish Fork Treaty, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Unratified Treaties File, RG 75, National Archives, microfilm at Brigham Young University Library.

3 Fred A. Conetah, A History oj the Northern Ute People, ed. Kathryn L. MacKay and Floyd A. O'Neil ([Ft. Duchesne, Ut.]: Uintah-Ouray Ute Tribe, 1982), p. 42. *U.S., Department of Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior, 1866, p. 124. sibid., p. 128.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

The majority of the Northern Ute bands in Utah probably did not consider it a war either, because it involved so few of their people.

At the height of his powers Black Hawk (or Autenquer, as he was known by his Indian name) had only slightly more than one hundred followers in his raiding party, and half of them were said to be Navajos and Paiutes.^ The Mormon settlers, on the other hand, reacted in the strongest terms to the conflict, which quickly became known to them as an Indian " w a r . " By 1866 as many as 2,500 able-bodied men had been pressed into the militia in an attempt to secure the frontier. Their task was a formidable one; during the years 1865 to 1867 Black Hawk's men managed to steal approximately 5,000 head of catde and kill as many as ninety settlers and militiamen.'^ Numerous settlements in central and southern Utah were abandoned, including major settlements such as Richfield, Circleville, Panguitch, and Kanab. Black Hawk's raiders were so effective that it was a common perception among the Mormon setders that all of the Indians in the territory were at war. In truth, evidence strongly suggests that several Ute bands, especially the San Pitch, Elk Mountain, and Uinta Utes, did supply and reinforce the raiders. However, the majority of the Northern Utes were not actively engaged in hostilities.

The Uinta Utes in particular had several reasons to feel oppressed by the Mormon setders, not the least of which was the loss of tribal lands. As early as 1858 setders in the Utah Valley began to dispute Indian land claims to the Spanish Fork Reservation. Indian Superintendent Jacob Forney was incredulous when the authorities of Spanish Fork City, believing that the Mormon settlers had a claim to much of the reservation, required agent Garland Hurt to give an accounting of his "stewardship" there.^ Superintendent Forney countered by working to enclose the reservation to prevent white encroachment, but his efforts were ineffective. By 1861 the agents were writing to Washington to complain that settlers from Spanish Fork were busy surveying the reservation with the object of settling on it.

One of these agents, a man by the name of Humphreys, complained that the Mormons had no particular regard for the Indians and that they had already taken possession of all the valleys in the territory.

6 Conetah, History of the Northern Ute People, p. 86.

7Deloy J. Spencer, " T h e Utah Black Hawk War, 1865-1871" (Master's thesis, Utah State University, 1969), pp. 54-55. ^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1858, pp. 210-11.

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29

thus depriving the Indians of their means of subsistence.^ He deplored the Mormons' further avarice in seeking to possess the Spanish Fork reserve before the Utes could be moved elsewhere.

That "elsewhere," as it turned out, was to be the Uinta Valley, set aside as an Indian reserve in 1861 by the proclamation of President Lincoln. Nothing was done about it for some time, as events later developed, and the Utes continued to lose their holding at the Spanish Fork and Sanpete farms. In September 1862 Agent T. W. Hatch wrote to Commissioner James D. Doty that when he began his duties he found the Indian farms in a "destitute condition, stripped of their stock, tools, and movable fences, and no one living upon either of them. "10 The Indians had, of course, moved out in an attempt to return to their former nomadic lifestyle. All of this had come about as the result of a general lack of government funding and an equal lack of concern among the local white inhabitants. During the winter of 1859-60 the Utes on the farms were left without shelter, food, or clothing. Following successive crop failures conditions were so bad that many Indians died of starvation and exposure. Despite frequent appeals from the Indians, government officials provided no assistance, and the Indians were so destitute that Agent Humphreys had to bury the dead in his own blankets. The next year the Utes left the farms and moved into the mountains in hopes of supporting themselves. With the best hunting grounds gone to white settlement, however, the attempt was doomed to failure. The expatriated Utes were often left with the choice of begging food from the settlers or starving. Benjamin Davies, who was the Indian superintendent in 1861, reported that the "Indians had lost confidence in the government and people of the United States, [and] had become vicious and spiteful."^^ Well aware of the Indians' destitution, Davies warned Washington that the Utes had to commit depredations in order to subsist themselves.^^ Meanwhile, the Civil War absorbed the resources of the federal government. What litde attention could be paid to Indian affairs was usually directed at trying to keep the Overland Trail open in the face of hostile Plains Indians. The resulting lack of concern over matters in Utah had a profound effect on the Utes who were increasingly ^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1861, p. 140. ioAnnuat Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1862, p. 205. i^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1861, p. 129. i2lbid., p. 139.

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anxious to know what the government would do with them. Acting Gov. Amos Reed complained to the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the Indians had been led to expect benefits they never received and consequently roamed the territory annoying the settlements and disturbing the citizens. 1^ The obvious solution was to negotiate a treaty with the Utes, one they themselves were seeking, and to remove the tribe to the Uinta Valley. Unfortunately, due to the demands of war, the government delayed, claiming that nothing could be done to develop the Uintah Reservation because of a lack of definite geographic knowledge of the area.i* Newly appointed Indian Superintendent O. H. Irish warned Washington of the consequences of delay: Those Indians . . . are anxious to understand their rights; they look with alarm upon the constant and increasing stream of emigration pouring into this Territory. They behold the enterprise of the white man manifesting itself by taking possession of what they have long occupied and claimed as their country. They see farms opened and cultivated on every hand; they witness the establishment and rapid development of mining interests with apprehension and jealousy, and they have threatened to stop all prospecting, and have done so in some portions of the Territory, and unless some negotiations are opened and treaties formed, there will be difficulty with these Indians. ^^

It did not help matters that during the winter of 1864-65 an epidemic of smallpox (or possibly measles) killed many Utes in their encampments. The Indians blamed the Mormons for the deaths.^^ In view of these provocations it is not surprising that hostilities finally did break out in April 1865. The traditional story is that the Black Hawk War started when an arranged meeting in Manti between whites and Indians erupted in violence. A drunken interpreter by the name of John Lowry quarreled with a young Indian named Yenewood and tried to pull the Indian off his horse. This act enraged the Indians, who rode off and killed some workmen isolated in the canyons. Thus, by implication, the Black Hawk War resulted from a scuffle and a misunderstanding.

The problem with such an interpretation is that it ignores the volume of underlying unrest among the Utes. John Lowry himself, in ^3 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1864, pp. 177-78. i*Ibid., p. 16. islbid., p. 169.

1^Spencer, "Black Hawk W a r , " p. 8.

The Black Hawk War

31

a statement made some years afterward, denied that this incident was to blame for the war. He claimed that he had met near Gunnison during the preceding winter with Utes who were angry and determined to fight in the spring. In Lowry's words, "Black Hawk informed me what the Indians were going to do when the snow went off. They would kill Mormons and eat Mormon beef."^^ Other versions of this incident corroborate Lowry's story. George W. Bean, an Indian interpreter well known in Utah at the time, claimed that the row over the horse started when the Indians brought a horse into Manti to pay for damages done in an earlier raid. The Indians claimed that they had done the raiding because the Indian agents had misapplied their funds and not provided food for them. Lowry, who worked with the agents, became incensed at the accusation and started the fight.^^ That the Indians were hungry seems unquestionable. Francis George Wall stated that he knew Black Hawk very well in 1864 because he would come to the town of Glenwood every day and beg for food.*^ While federal appropriations were never adequate to supply the Utes with needed provisions, the charge of malfeasance made by the Indians against the agents seems to have some basis in fact. The Indians also claimed that the agents, besides misappropriating funds, used the shortages as an excuse to bill Washington for emergency purchases that were never made. The accusations were convincing enough to the new Utah Indian superintendent, F. H. Head, that he filed a list of charges against agent L. B. Kinney, who was responsible for the Uinta Utes in 1865. Among other things, Kinney was charged with selling goods intended for the Indians.^° The Utes did not have to look merely toward corrupt agents for examples of government perfidy, however. A far more significant swindle was perpetrated against them in the form of the Spanish Fork Treaty, negotiated by Superintendent Irish in June 1865. Irish was a sincere and honest government employee who no doubt had the Indians' best interests in mind when he gathered the chiefs at Spanish Fork. Concerned about the unrest among the Utes, he hoped to

1' Peter Gottfredson, History of Indian Depredations in Utah (Salt Lake City: Skelton Publishing Co., 1909), p. 335.

18George W. Bean, "Autobiography of George W. Bean" [typed copy of manuscript]. Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, pp. 145-147.

19"Journal of Francis George Wall," in Kate B. Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, vol. 7 (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1966), p. 365.

20 F. H. Head to D. N. Cooley, August 30, 1866, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

induce them to cede all of their claims in Utah Territory in exchange for government annuities and an agency in the Uinta Valley. He could not have known what mischief his treaty was destined to create.

Irish was also a clever man, and he rightly suspected that the Indians would not trust him in light of all the other government failures on their behalf. Consequendy, he invited Brigham Young and some of the other Mormon authorities to accompany him to the negotiations. Irish had the treaty read to the chiefs prior to the meeting. It promised, among other things, that in exchange for the land claims the Utes would receive $25,000 annually for ten years, then $20,000 annually for twenty years, and then finally $15,000 annually for thirty years. The Utes prompdy rejected the idea of signing away their claims, however, because, as Chief Kanosh put it, " I n past times, the Washington chiefs that came here from the United States would think and talk two ways and deceive u s . " He rejected the treaty, saying, " I do not want to cut the land in two. Let it all remain as it is."^^ The rest of the chiefs supported Kanosh and were opposed to signing the treaty until Brigham Young spoke to them. Young retained great influence over the Utes from his former days as Indian superintendent, and at this crucial moment he used it to great advantage. He told the Indians that they had better take what the government was wifling to give them and go to the Uinta Valley, because otherwise the government would simply take the land and give them nothing for it. He also reassured them that Superintendent Irish would see to it that they received houses, farms, cows, oxen, clothing, and many other things. The Utes asked for time to think it over and then, ultimately, signed.^^ Brigham Young had made the difference.

As Mormon Apostle Wilford Woodruff recorded it in his journal, "Col. Irish . . . could not make any treaty with the Indians only through the influence of President Young. "^^ Not all of the chiefs were happy with the treaty, however. One Indian, San Pitch, refused to sign with the others, although he did sign later. His comments during the treaty negotiations reveal bitterness toward the settlers: "We do not want to be removed from the land. . . . The whites make farms, get wood and live on the land and we never traded the land."^* The significance of San Pitch's opposi21 Spanish Fork Treaty.

22 Ibid.

23 Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff's Journal, e d . Scott G . K i n n e y , 9 vols. ( M i d v a l e , U t . : Signature Books, 1984), 6:June 8, 1865.

2* Spanish Fork Treaty.

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33

tion may be seen in the fact that he was the Indian who brought the horse into Manti two months earlier—the same horse involved in the altercation between John Lowry and Yenewood. Black Hawk, it should also be mentioned, was a member of San Pitch's band.

At the conclusion of the treaty council Superintendent Irish met with all of the Indians except the absent San Pitch to discuss the Black Hawk raids. He warned them to stay out of the conflict and questioned them about the identity of those Indians who were involved in the raiding. The Indians were reluctant to give Irish any details, except to admit that San Pitch's family had played a role.^^ The superintendent was convinced that San Pitch had more to do with Black Hawk's renegade band than the other chiefs would admit. Subsequent events suggest that he was likely correct; San Pitch was arrested with several of his principal men in March 1866 and charged with providing Black Hawk with ammunition and information about the settlers. San Pitch, wounded while escaping from the jail in Manti, died shortly afterwards, which greatly excited his relative.

Chief Tabby of the Uinta Utes. For a time it appeared that the entire Uinta Ute band would join in the hostilities.^^ In the months following the negotiation of the Spanish Fork Treaty the Utes found additional reasons to threaten war on the whites. Chief among these was their failure to receive the promised benefits of the treaty. Faithful to their end of the arrangement, the various Ute bands removed to the Uinta Valley just prior to the harsh winter of 1865-66. In March, Superintendent Head, who had taken over for Irish, complained bitterly to Washington that he had no money on hand and that the Utes were in desperate need of beef and flour as well as farm implements and provisions.^^ A month later he was writing again, this time to say that several of the Utes had died during the winter and were greatly exasperated that the treaty promises had not been kept. In fact, the dire conditions on the reservation had greatly increased Black Hawk's stature among the Indians, and large numbers were assembling and were preparing for war.^^

By June the situation was so precarious that Chief Tabby's band had already departed to join Black Hawk's warriors. Superintendent Head was so concerned about the agitated state of the Indians that he 25 Ibid. "^^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1866, p. 129.

27F. H. Head to D. N. Cooley, March 31, 1866, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received. '^^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1866, p. 125.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

was afraid to visit them without provisions.^^ A general war was only averted by his decision to accompany, a few weeks later, a shipment of goods over the snow-covered mountain passes. Upon his arrival the superintendent found his fears amply justified, for the Utes were "much enraged" and ready to begin the fight. Some of the reservation Indians had in fact already commenced attacking nearby settlements. ^° After holding several councils to distribute presents and promise better performance from the government. Head was able to restore the peace.

As events transpired Superintendent Head's guarantees during the summer of 1866 proved as elusive to the Utes as all of the other promises that had been made. By the summer of 1867 the Utes had still not received any annuities and scarcely any provisions at the Uintah Reservation. Once again Chief Tabby threatened to join Black Hawk in a general war on the Mormon settlers, but by this time the war was winding down and Black Hawk was suing for peace.^^ The irony in all of this lay in the fact that the Ute bands never received the benefits promised in the Spanish Fork Treaty in 1865 because the treaty was never ratified by the United States Senate. In March 1869 the treaty was finally reported to the Senate floor with a negative recommendation and rejected. Meanwhile, the Black Hawk War drew to a close. Facing increasing pressure from the territorial militia and suffering from a debilitating gunshot wound, Black Hawk appeared at the Uintah Agency in 1867 and sued for peace. Several confederates, however, continued their raiding for another two years.

In the end, of course, the majority of the Utes did not become actively involved in the Black Hawk War, although it would not be too much to say that they acted as passive participants by providing supplies and moral support. Nearly all of Black Hawk's initial followers were killed in the fighting; yet he managed to continually recruit replacements from the Utes, Paiutes, Navajos, and other neighboring tribes. It was a very lucky thing for the settlers that the Uinta Utes and the majority of their relatives in the San Pitch and Elk Mountain bands stayed out of the war, considering the damage inflicted by those few Indians who did participate.

It is clear, in retrospect, that the Black Hawk War was not the aberration traditional histories describe it as. It was, instead, the 29Ibid., pp. 129-30.

30 F. H. Head to D. N. Cooley, October 26, 1866, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received. '^^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1867, p. 181.

The Black Hawk War

35

natural outgrowth of circumstances that oppressed the Utes and drove some of them to war. Displaced from ancestral lands and deprived of their economic base, they had essentially three options: to starve, to beg, or to fight. Little wonder, then, that many chose the latter.

At the same time, officials of the federal government were in a position to alleviate these hardships and prevent the bloodshed, but through a combination of inattenation, incompetence, and duplicity, they chose not to do so. Without question the Civil War played a major role in contributing to government neglect of the Utes during the crucial years of 1859 to 1865 when timely assistance would have made all the difference. Following the war the government could have shortened the hostilities by simply living up to the terms of the Spanish Fork Treaty, but once again the Utes were forgotten.

The Civil War also contributed to the increased tensions felt by all of the western tribes during those years. The Utes were well aware of these tensions and felt that the Indians on the plains were "fighting for them, to keep the emigrants from taking possession of the country. "32 They undoubtedly knew that the rising tide of setdement was rapidly sweeping them aside and that the Mormon immigrants, despite statements to the contrary, were not greatly concerned about their welfare. The Civil War represented one last opportunity to fight for Indian autonomy.

Finally, the setders themselves might have prevented the war had they been willing to follow Brigham Young's advice to "feed the Indians, instead of fighting them." But after the advent of federal control in the territory, the settlers preferred to leave the responsibility to the government. It is ironic that they chose this tactic, given the nature of the Indian grievances. In 1870, after the raiding had ceased.

Black Hawk toured many of the settlements in central and southern Utah and spoke to Mormon congregations. His purpose was to ask for forgiveness and also to explain his motives. As he told the Saints in Fillmore, the raids were "forced by [the] starvation of his people. "^^ Many of his men told the same story, claiming that "hunger often caused them to go on raids to get catde to eat."^'^ Thus, the corollary of Brigham's dictum proved to be true as weU: "If you will not feed the Indians, you must invariably fight them."

32 Irish to Dole, February 14, 1865, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Letters Received.

33josiah F. Gibbs, "Black Hawk's Last Raid— 1866," Utah Historical Quarterly 4 (1931): 108.

3*Daniel W.Jones, Forty Years among the Indians {^a\i Lake City: Juvenile Instructor, 1890), p. 192.

Angus M. Cannon. tJSHS collections.

Angus M. Cannon: Frustrated Mormon Miner

BY DONALD Q,. CANNON

X H E MINING ACTIVITIES OF ANGUS M . CANNON PROVIDE a wonderful example of the personal struggle and frustration some nineteenth-

Dr. Cannon is associate dean of religious education at Brigham Young University, Provo.

Angus M. Cannon

37

century Mormons experienced when they engaged in mining precious metals. On the one hand they saw the opportunity for acquiring wealth by developing Utah's abundant minerals. On the other hand they remembered the caution against mining precious metals given by Brigham Young and other church leaders. Angus Cannon's mining ventures brought him few rewards and many inner struggles.

The second son and fourth child of George Cannon and Ann Quayle, Angus M. Cannon was born in Liverpool, England, May 17, 1834. Apostle John Taylor, who had married Leonora, sister of Angus's father, converted and baptized the Cannons on February 11, 1840.1 In September 1842 the family took passage to America with a company of Saints on the ship Sidney. An eight-week voyage brought the Cannons to New Orleans, whence they proceeded up the Mississippi to St. Louis where they spent the winter. In the spring of 1843 they arrived in Nauvoo. Angus and his brothers and sisters became seriously ill with fever and chills — most likely malaria. His father died and his sister Mary Alice and her husband, Charles Lambert, became guardians of the orphaned children.

Angus and his family took refuge across the Mississippi River in Iowa Territory in the fall of 1846. After what must have seemed an endless delay at Winter Quarters because of lack of funds, they departed for the Great Basin in the spring of 1849, arriving in Salt Lake in October.

In the fall of 1854 Angus received a call to serve a mission in the eastern United States in company with Apostle John Taylor. In New York City he assisted Taylor in publishing The Mormon. Because of the Utah War, Angus returned to Salt Lake City, arriving on June 21, 1858. Later that summer he married two sisters whom he had met in the mission field, Ann Amanda and Sarah Maria Mousley. After establishing a home for his family he started a pottery business.

Not long thereafter Angus and his family were called to the Cotton Mission, which meant moving to southern Utah to assist in colonization. In company with Erastus Snow and Jacob Gates, Angus 1 There are several good biographical sketches of Angus M. Cannon. The information herein has been drawn essentially from: Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson Historical Co., 1901-36), 1:292-95; Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1892-1904), 4:373-76; Edward W. Tullidge, The History of Salt Lake City and Its Founders {Sah hake City: Utah Pioneers Book Publishing Company, 1913), pp. 188, 793; Thomas C. Romney, The Gospel in Action (Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union Board, 1949), pp. 30-34; Beatrice Cannon Evans, "Angus Munn C a n n o n , " Cannon Family Historical Treasury, ed. Beatrice Cannon Evans and Janath Russell Cannon (Salt Lake City: George Cannon Family Association, 1967), pp. 189-216.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

helped select the site for St. George. In the newly created community he served in several responsible positions, including mayor, city marshal, county prosecuting attorney, and major in the militia.

Because of Angus's poor health, he and his family returned to Salt Lake City in 1867. During the last quarter of the century he earned a living from a variety of occupations, including business manager of the Deseret News, farmer, stock raiser, and mining entrepreneur.

As he served in the church as Salt Lake Stake president and as he earned a living, his domestic responsibilities increased substantially.

He added four wives to his family: on June 16, 1876, he married the widow of William Mason, Clarissa Cordelia Moses Mason; and during the 1880s he married Martha Hughes, Maria Bennion, and Johanna Cristina Danielson. His six wives bore him twenty-seven children, and with the two Clarissa brought to their marriage he had twenty-nine children to rear.^ Following a long and useful life he died June 7, 1915. His funeral services were held June 11 in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. A Deseret News editorial commented, " T h e death of President Angus M. Cannon . . . removes from mortality one of the most valiant, useful and prominent men of the intermountain country."^ One of the activities that had absorbed him, especially in the 1890s, was mining.

Latter-day Saints such as Angus who engaged in mining precious metals did so in the face of opposition from church leaders. This was especially true in the early years of settlement. As one historian notes, "Precious minerals were sought only through special church projects to raise money for official use, and church members were strongly discouraged from such pursuits unless they were specifically called to do so."* Mormon leaders desired to prevent mining from disturbing the religious and economic order of Utah society,^ Brigham Young made mining the subject of sermon after sermon. With characteristic candor he said, "If you Elders of Israel want to go to the gold mines, go and be damned."^ The sharpness of this statement masks Young's 2 For additional information on the religious and family activities of Angus, see Donald Q. Cannon, "Angus M. Cannon: Pioneer, President, Patriarch," in Supporting Saints: Life Stories of Nineteenth-Century Mormons, ed. Donald Q. Cannon and David S. Whittaker (Provo, Ut.: Religious Studies Center, 1985), pp. 369-401. ^Deseret News, June 7, 1915. *Dean L. May, "Towards a Dependent Commonwealth," in Richard D. Poll, ed., Utah's History (Provo, Ut: Brigham Young University Press, 1978), pp. 203-4.

5 Rodman W. Paul, Mining Frontiers of the Far West, 1848-1880 (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1963), p. 150. ^Journal History, July 8, 1849, LDS Church Library-Archives, Salt Lake City.

Angus M. Cannon

39

genuine fear of the dangers inherent in mining. In another sermon he said, On the bare report that gold was discovered over in these West Mountains, men left their thrashing machines, and their horses at large to eat up and trample down and destroy the precious bounties of the earth. They at once sacrificed all at the glittering shrine of this popular idol, declaring they were now going to be rich, and would raise wheat no more. Should this feeling become universal on the discovery of gold mines in our immediate vicinity, nakedness, starvation, utter destitution and annihilation would be the inevitable lot of this people.^

The Mormon leader wanted to shield his Great Basin empire from corruption in all its forms.

Church leaders did not rule out mining for essential elements such as coal for fuel or iron for tools. As Erastus Snow explained.

Iron, copper, coal, lead, zinc and tin abound in our mountain home, and the development of these minerals is of far more importance to the welfare and prosperity of a nation, than the development of mines containing the precious metals; for the latter are limited in their use, while the grosser metals are those that, in their uses, enter into all the ramifications of life.^

Given such warning, Mormons who ventured into mining did so at the risk of developing a guilt complex at the very least. This was especially true of men who engaged in mining during Brigham Young's administration. Even after his death, however, few believing Latter-day Saints took up mining without some problems of conscience. Angus M. Cannon was no exception, as one of his journal entries in 1891 poignantly illustrates: As it is, I am now perfectly tranquil, feeling: if it is my Heavenly Father's will that I be prospered here — and I shall be enabled to pay my debts and provide those He has given me with the common necessities of life, I desire only to use whatever else I have to advance the interests of His Kingdom; should it be otherwise I feel it wise in Him to put a check upon his people and discourage them in mining — In which case, I am willing and most anxious — (If I know my own heart) — to show the evil of going in search of mineral wealth as I have done, — although we may feel He guides us in such direction, for I truly have thought it was His good pleasure that I do as I have done,—hence my continued persistence in the course I have pursued in this direction and I must acknowledge I feel He will prosper me in

^Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855-86), 10:271. sibid., 12:212.

40

Utah Historical Quarterly this undertaking — knowing as I do that my motives have been most pure. I know the will of God will be manifest in this thing — let it by my prosperity or adversity . . . redound to His Glory for I know He doeth all things well, — Hence: Glory to His Name—Now and forever more!^

Despite reservations, Angus did engage in mining—perhaps influenced by positive statements about mining made by his uncle, President John Taylor—for some twenty years. The earliest references to mining in his journals occur in 1890, but his correspondence provides evidence of mining activity as early as 1877 when he apparently operated coal mines in Summit County, near present-day Coalville, Utah. The latest reference to his mining activities is found in a letter written in 1907 in which Angus lamented losing one of his farms as a result of his mining ventures.^° Although his mining operations spanned two decades, the most intense activity occurred during the 1890s when Angus spent the most time, money, and energy in mining. During 1900 and 1901 the sporadic references to mining in his journal deal primarily with efforts to dispose of his mining property. During this same period he was also cutting back in his church service as he changed from stake president to patriarch.

The geographical scope of his mining activities was impressive.

He developed mining properties in three Utah counties: Summit, Utah, and Tooele. He also held mining claims in White Pine County, Nevada. Most of his mining prospects were located in the Dugway Mining District situated in the forbidding desert terrain of western Tooele County. One of Utah's largest counties, Tooele extends from the western border of Salt Lake County to the Nevada state line.

Much of Angus's mining activity took place near Dugway Mountain and Granite Mountain, within the present confines of Dugway Proving Grounds. Since this area is now used by the U.S. Army for testing weapons, most of Cannon's mine sites are no longer accessible to the public.

In the nineteenth century the trip from Salt Lake to the mines was long and arduous. Usually Angus took the Utah and Nevada Railway to Stockton and then traveled by horse and buggy into the desert until he reached Granite Mountain. Occasionally he traveled

^Journal of Angus M. Cannon, February 2, 1891, Angus Munn Cannon Papers, LDS Church Library-Archives, hereafter cited as Journal. loCannon to John H. Williams, March 15, 1877; Cannon to Evan Jones, July 1, 1907, Angus Munn Cannon Papers.

Angus M. Cannon

41

south via Lehi and Fairfield, following the old stage coach and Pony Express route. The southern route through Fairfield gave Angus easy access to his mining property in the Camp Floyd Mining District, southeast of his more extensive holdings in the Dugway Mining District, bordering the north side of old Camp Floyd at the south end of the Oquirrh Mountains. ^^ By either the northern or southern approach the trip was time-consuming and exhausting. Each trip took more than a day, and Angus had to camp out or stay with someone overnight. ^^ Angus gave his Utah mining claims colorful names, reflecting the imagination and zest associated with mining in the nineteenthcentury American West. His mines in the Dugway Mining District included Lehi, Gypsy, Mari, Carbinet, Rattler, Blue Rock, Ensign, and Good Luck. Some of the names he used to identify his mines in the Camp Floyd District were Ingot, Cannon, Old Grover, North Side, Little Ruth, Mormon Girl, Neela, Cap Rock, Gold Bug, and Rover. ^^ Angus also engaged in mining in the Ophir Mining District — particularly at Mercur—located in the south-central Oquirrh Range in eastern Tooele County.^'^ His activity there occurred later than his initial activity in the Dugway and Camp Floyd mining districts. By 1897 he was in a partnership with his brother, George Q. Cannon, in the Wonder Mining Company in Mercur. Traveling to this property was easier than traveling to Dugway because by 1897 a railroad line ran directly to Mercur. The Union Pacific ran from Salt Lake to Fairfield, and the Salt Lake and Mercur line ran from Fairfield to Mercur. Also, by 1897 Angus could call his men in Mercur on the telephone. Instead of camping out and taking his own food, he could stay at the Mercur boarding house and eat his favorite meal of fried oysters, paying sixty cents for it.^^ Once involved in mining activities, Angus expanded outside the state of Utah, acquiring holdings in neighboring Nevada in the Eagle Mining District, White Pine County. During the mid-1890s he had as many as seventeen claims in that area. White Pine County in eastcentral Nevada, adjacent to the Utah border, contained several ore-

11 B. A. M. Froiseth, New Mining Map of Utah (Sak Lake City, 1871).

12Journal, February 23, 1891; November 3, 1890.

13Business papers, Angus M. Cannon Papers.

1*Froiseth map. i5journal, June 8, June 14, September 20, December 23, 1897; January 6, \i

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Utah Historical Quarterly

rich mountain ranges and became a mining frontier with many boom and bust towns, including Hamilton, Cherry Creek, and Schellbourne. The Eagle Mining District was located in the Kern Mountains on the Utah border, northeast of Ely, the county seat.^^ The landscape in this district forms a sharp contrast to the sagebrush flats in much of the rest of Nevada. The terrain is mountainous and at least partially forested, including such rare trees as the ancient bristlecone pine.

To visit Cannon's Nevada mining properties today one must travel through Delta, Utah, and Ely, Nevada, or via Wendover, Utah, if one wishes to drive on paved roads. The old Pony Express trail, just a dirt track, runs directly from Tooele County into White Pine County. Thus access from his mine in the Dugway Mining District to his mining property in Nevada was quite direct, and certainly in Cannon's time the latter route would have been preferable.

Much of his mining business was delegated to others, but especially in the early stages of development Angus spent days and weeks on site, supervising others and working himself at surveying, drilling, hauling ore, building and reinforcing mine tunnels and shafts, and installing water pumps. A good example of a busy day in the Dugway Mining District is Saturday, November 1, 1890. The day before, Angus had traveled along the old Pony Express road and arrived at Granite Mountain. On Saturday he rode his horse to visit five mines: Gypsy, Bluestone, Gray Carbonate, Lehi, and Black Dragon. He explored some of the area and inspected the mines. He and his party set off explosives and then carried ore down the mountain. He also made arrangements for storing food and blasting powder in the Granite Mountain area. Late in the day he spent time with his men, discussing plans for hauling ore to Stockton, the terminus of the Utah and Nevada Railway. At least once he became so involved he spent Christmas at his mining camp, noting in his journal, "It is Christmas Day and I am in the midst of a Desert."^^ His personal on-site involvement occurred more frequently at the outset of his mining career and tapered off with the passage of time. Thus his early trips "into the desert" lasted for weeks, while his later trips lasted only a few days.

16 Francis C. Linoln, Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada (Reno: Newsletter Publishing, 1923), p. 245. Details of Cannon's Nevada mining ventures are found in his business papers and in records in the White Pine County Courthouse in Ely. i^Journal, November 1, December 25, 1890.

Angus M. Cannon

43

One of his principal tasks was hiring personnel for the mines. On Friday, December 4, 1890, he spent the day hiring men to work at Dugway Mountain. Sometimes he had to play the role of a modern labor negotiator, resolving wage disputes and improving living conditions. Friday, March 6, 1891, was payday, and he paid the men personally. Frequently the miners complained about the food. One group complained that they could not understand the German cook Angus had hired, and worse yet they couldn't stand the food he served. He hired a replacement and then had to fire the replacement.

Problems over food were constant, and Angus became quite adept at dealing with them.^^ In Salt Lake Angus spent mine-related time in bookkeeping, buying supplies, and having ore assayed. In other words, his time devoted to this enterprise was not confined to the days he spent at the mines. In addition to time, mining required a great deal of money, and indeed he spent a small fortune supporting his various mining operations.

Initially, Cannon used his own resources to buy property and stake claims. As he developed properties his family became more involved. When demand for equipment and personnel increased, Angus borrowed money. Some borrowing was done within the family, but ultimately he had to borrow money from outside sources such as banks. Another source of funding for his mines came from business partnerships. The largest of these partnerships, the Wonder Mining Company, included family members as well as some outsiders. At one point the company officers included: George Q. Cannon, president; Angus M. Cannon, vice-president; John W. Donnelon, treasurer; Lewis M. Cannon, secretary; P. J. Quealy, manager; George M. Cannon, director, John M. Cannon, attorney.^^ No matter what source of funding he used, Angus was very hard pressed to keep his mines operating. His journals, correspondence, and business papers are replete with references to frustration over money matters. His sons George and Lewis strongly advised him to curtail or even stop his mining activity as early as 1891, teUing him that he simply did not have enough money. Seven years later Angus wrote about his desperate financial straits, noting that he was even considering turning over his property to his creditors.^^ One night he islbid., December 4, 1890; March 6, August 19, September 8, 1891.

19 Business papers.

20Journal, February 21, 1891; May 5, 1898.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

awoke and began to think seriously about his decision to go into mining. After some thought and anguish he made his case a matter of prayer: " I arose and knelt at my bedside and did thank the Lord for His goodness to me and mine although I am now brought face to face with the fact that I am apparently ruined. "^^ In spite of financial difficulties Angus persisted in his mining ventures. Considering the obstacles, his tenacity is remarkable.

Although Angus worked hard at mining he enjoyed little success.

Certainly he failed to strike it rich. The lack of financial success bothered him, but not enough to make him stop. He held on in the belief that he would make his fortune if he only persisted. Drilling a shaft at the Black Dragon Mine in the Dugway Mining District provides an example of his persistence and wishful thinking. In May 1891 the tunnel measured 130 feet deep. In July his sons expressed concern about pouring more money into the mine and advised him to quit if he had not found paying ore at the 200-foot level.^^ In September drill bits broke on hard rock, but later that month Angus became excited by the discovery of some yellow deposits. To his disappointment they were not gold, but fire clay. Wrote Angus, "Such is life!" By midOctober the tunnel had reached 275 feet, and still no ore. He wrote, " I am at a loss to know what to do. My heart goes out to the Lord continually in hope that He will guide me aright." By February 1892 the tunnel reached 378 feet and by spring 500 feet. Still, he had not discovered ore of any value.^^ The bottom line — the Black Dragon never produced.

Like a compulsive gambler Angus sometimes found himself not only hoping for the jackpot but in an embarrassing predicament as well. Early in 1891 he discovered what appeared to be a very substantial amount of silver ore. He said, " I am a millionaire once more in imaginations.''^ He hurried to Salt Lake with ore samples to be assayed.

He visited the First Presidency of the LDS church and bragged that he had found a silver rock that was sure to assay very high. He told his brother, George Q. Cannon, that the Lord was apparently going to try him with riches. He then told his sons that he would be one of the richest men in Utah. The next day he learned that the ore had nothing of value in it. " / made an ass of myself!'' he wrote. He was so embarrassed that he was reluctant to be in the presence of the First Presi21 Ibid., May 23, 1898.

22Ibid., May 19, July 2, 1891.

23Ibid., September 22, September 23, October 13, 1891; February 2, April 19, 1892.

Angus M. Cannon

45

dency the next day, Sunday, when he ordinarily saw many General Authorities in a church meeting he conducted in his role as Salt Lake Stake president.^* Overcoming embarrassment and the fear of poverty, he pressed ever onward in his dream of wealth. His journals and correspondence reflect both a concern about dire consequences and an unquenchable thirst for material success. Most often, however, he tells of leaving his fate in the hands of the Lord. Commenting on his recent mining losses and the attendant poverty he wrote, " I am resolved to leave all to the Lord, only praying that I may have strength, with my family, to endure uncomplainingly to the end." His financial situation became so precarious that occasionally he had to seek church assistance. Full of anxiety he wrote, " I leave the city with a sad heart realizing if I continue to work my mines and they do not pay I shall be ruined," and on another occasion he questioned whether it was God or the devil who had caused him to engage in mining,^^ The story of Angus M. Cannon's mining activities is one of conflict, stress, frustration, and failure. That he felt uneasy about his activity in mining is attested to by numerous statements in his papers.

He, like Heber J. Grant, had serious reservations about mining.

Another element in his internal conflict was his desire for success and his failure to achieve it. This lack of success raised fresh doubts about the propriety of Latter-day Saints seeking material wealth through mining. Again and again he was driven to his knees to ask that God's will be done and that he might have sufficient strength to accept that will. Always a frustrated miner, Angus, to his credit, managed to take care of his large family in spite of financial reverses related to mining, for despite his struggle to achieve material success he still wanted to live a life that would please his God.

2*Ibid., February 2, February 6, February 7, February 8, 1891; see also Cannon and Whittaker, eds., Supporting Saints, p. 375.

25journal, November 29, 1898; January 1, 1891; April 19, 1892.

Fawn McKay Brodie, 1966, Palisades, California.

USHS collections.

Applause, Attack, and Ambivalence — Varied Responses to Fawn M. Brodie's No Man Knows My History

BY NEWELL G. BRINGHURST

Dr. Bringhurst teaches history at College of the Sequoias, Visaiia, CaUfornia. He wishes to thanlt Shirley E. Stephenson who generously provided a complete typescript of her November 1975 interview with Brodie and typescripts of interviews that the author conducted with Brodie's younger sisters, Bar-

Varied Responses

47

1945 ALFRED A. K N O P F PUBLISHED the first edition of Fawn M. Brodie's No Man Knows My History: The Life ofJoseph Smith.

Brodie, in terms of her background and intelligence, seemed highly qualified to write a biography of Mormonism's founder.^ Born Fawn McKay in Ogden, Utah, on September 15, 1915, she was the daughter of Thomas E. McKay, an assistant to the Twelve and the niece of David O. McKay, the future church president who in 1945 was already a member of the church's First Presidency. Fawn's mother.

Fawn Brimhall (after whom she was named), was the daughter of George H. Brimhall, a one-time president of Brigham Young University in the early twentieth century. Young Fawn excelled in school and by the age of nine had already demonstrated her skills as a writer, having one of her poems published in Child Life, a national periodical for children. She sailed through school, graduating from Ogden High in 1930 at age fourteen and from the University of Utah in 1934 at eighteen with highest honors. She then did graduate work at the University of Chicago, receiving her master's degree in English in 1936 at the age of twenty.

In that same year she married a fellow student, Bernard Brodie, a non-Mormon. Bernard's family was of Latvian-Jewish immigrant stock, but Bernard himself never embraced the Jewish faith or any other religion. Meanwhile, Fawn commenced research into what would become her biography of Joseph Smith. In 1943 the fledgling author was awarded the fourth annual Alfred A. Knopf Literary Fellowship on the basis of a few preliminary chapters submitted for publication consideration. Brodie's award was noted in the Washington Post.^ Her basic thesis in interpreting the life of Joseph Smith viewed the Mormon leader from a "naturalistic perspective," that is, as primarily motivated by nonreligious factors. She later noted: " I was I N NOVEMBER

bara McKay Smith and Louise McKay Card, and other relevant materials. Also of significant help were the following individuals who allowed the author to interview them during the summers of 1986 and 1987: Louise McKay Card, David L. McKay, Edward McKay, Gunn McKay, Monroe McKay, Thomas McKay, and Barbara McKay Smith who also provided various materials pertaining to her sister. Douglas F. Tobler and Peter Loewenberg provided useful information and insights relative to Fawn Brodie.

1 Information relative to Brodie's early life has been drawn from a number of sources. The most useful were Fawn M. Brodie, "Biography of Fawn McKay Brodie," oral history interview conducted by Shirley E. Stephenson, November 30, 1975, original in Oral History Collection, Fullerton State University, Fullerton, California; Flora McKay Crawford, "Flora on F a w n , " unpublished recollections, n.d.; Barbara McKay Smith, "Recollections of Fawn M. Brodie," address to Alice Louise Reynold's Forum, Provo, Utah, 1982.

2 Washington Post, May 22, 1943.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

convinced before I ever began writing that Joseph Smith was not a true Prophet."^ Aware of No Man Knows My History's potential for controversy, Herbert O. Brayer, writing in the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, predicted that the newly published book would "probably be one of the most highly praised as well as highly condemned historical works of 1945.'"^ Brayer's prediction was certainly close to the mark on both accounts. Praise was immediately forthcoming, particularly in the eastern press. Orville Prescott of the New York Times characterized it as "one of the best of afl Mormon books, scholarly, comprehensive, and judicial" and "scrupulously objective."^ Newsweek described Brodie's book as " a definitive biography in the finest sense of the word," while Time magazine praised the author for her "skill and scholarship and admirable detachment" in describing Joseph Smith.^ No Man Knows My History was also favorably reviewed in various midwestern newspapers, particularly in Ohio and Illinois, states in which Joseph Smith and the Mormons had been influential during the 1830s and 1840s. The Cleveland Plain Dealer characterized the biography as " a scholarly work of accurate detail and painstaking research," prophesying it to be "the life of Joseph Smith to which all future historians and biographers must refer. "^ The Chicago Sun called the book " a rare combination of sound scholarship and lively, readable narrative," giving the reader " a believable picture of one of America's most interesting characters."^ Praise was also forthcoming from two distinguished Utah-born authors reviewing the biography for eastern publishers. The first was written for the Saturday Review of Literature by Dale L. Morgan, himself a noted researcher/historian of the Utah-Mormon scene. Morgan characterized Brodie's book as "the finest job of scholarship yet done in Mormon history . . . a book distinguished in the range and originality of its research, the informed and searching objectivity of its viewpoint, the richness and suppleness of its prose, and its narrative power. "^ In this same spirit, Bernard DeVoto, usually stingy with praise and generally an acerbic critic, was extremely complimentary in the pages ^Brodie, "Biography of Fawn McKay Brodie," p. 10. ^Mississippi Valley Historical Review, March 1946, pp. 601-3. ^ New York Times, January 9, 1946. ^Newsweek, November 26, 1946; Time, January 28, 1946. '^ Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 25, 1945. ^Chicago Sun, November 25, 1945. ^Saturday Review of Literature, November 24, 1945.

Varied Responses

49

of the New York Herald-Tribune. According to DeVoto, No Man Knows My History was "the best book about the Mormons so far published" and "in a class by itself." "Because of its general excellence," he continued, it "can be held to rigorous standards throughout" and "will stand for a long time to come."^° All of this favorable publicity generated local pride. In a glowing editorial entided the "Success of Fawn McKay," the Ogden StandardExaminer was "happy to congratulate Mrs. Brodie upon the success of her work," describing her as " a scholar possessing a most readable style." The Standard-Examiner titillated its readers: " T h e book commands immediate attention. Nibble at the first paragraph and you are lost, lured speedily through the work by her fascinating story."^^ Not all Utahns shared the Standard-Examiner's enthusiasm — least of aU spokesmen for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Initially, No Man Knows My History, in the words of Dale Morgan, ran up "against a wafl of silence . . . in Zion" or, according to Brodie herself, "met a thunderous silence in Utah."^^ This was most evident in the reception accorded it by the church-owned Deseret News. At first, and in sharp contrast to the Ogden Standard-Examiner, the News completely ignored the biography. Later, the Deseret News did acknowledge that it had had some requests for its "appraisal" of what it termed "the so-called Brodie book." Attempting to justify its initial silence, the News stated that since "no copy of the book [had] ever been sent for its perusal" it had presumed that "neither the author nor the publisher wanted this book reviewed." Thus, the News "had no occasion to make any review. "^^ However, by the spring of 1946 the Mormon church could no longer ignore No Man Knows My History.

The book had been extensively reviewed in the eastern press and was enjoying universally brisk sales, even in Utah — sales that were reflected in its third printing by this time. Brodie's provocative biography had to be confronted head on. Leading the way was Aposde John A. Widtsoe who attacked the book in the Improvement Era in March 1946. " T h e purported history of Joseph Smith," according to Widtsoe, "is really an attempt to portray Joseph Smith as a deceiver." The author, he continued, presents "every act in the ProphiONew York Herald-Tribune, December 16, 1945. ^^ Ogden Standard-Examiner, December 2, 1945.

12Dale L. Morgan to Lydia Clawson Hoopes, January 29, 1946, original in Dale L. Morgan Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; Dale L. Morgan to Fawn M. Brodie, March 7, 1946, original in Fawn M. Brodie Papers, Special Collections, University of Utah Library, Salt Lake City. i'^ Deseret News, May 11, 1946.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

et's life . . . as the product of a dishonest man, who knew he was acting out a lie." He lashed out that "such unfairness illustrates the venomous temper of the author." Widtsoe concluded that "As a history of Joseph Smith, the book is a flat failure. . . . It will be of no interest to Latter-day Saints who have correct knowledge of the history of Joseph Smith. "^* The following month other Mormon leaders responded to the book at the church's April 1946 annual general conference. These responses were less direct, not once mentioning the author or her book. In this spirit President George Albert Smith asserted, "Many have belittled Joseph Smith but those who have, will be forgotten in the remains of Mother Earth and the odor of their infamy will ever be with them."^^ Apostle Albert E. Bowen, in the words of the Deseret News, "made a stirring defense of the Prophet Joseph Smith against the poisonous slander of those who would make him out an imposter."^^ Throughout the conference church leaders gave "emphasis [to] the validity of the mission and accomplishments of the Prophet Joseph Smith. "^^ Thus Fawn Brodie and her book cast a long shadow over this gathering, causing another Utah author, Juanita Brooks, to observe pungently to her close friend Dale L. Morgan: "We've been amused to see what Fawn's book has done to the Sunday issue of the Deseret News. Every number has an editorial on Joseph Smith reemphasizing all his fine qualities, but without mentioning her book at all." Brooks concluded that while none of the conference participants referred directly to Brodie or her book "they certainly let people know what would happen to the likes of her."^^

By May 1946 spokesmen for the church stepped up their attacks, directly confronting Fawn Brodie and her book. The "Church News" section of the Deseret News on May 11, 1946, presented what it termed its own critical "Appraisal of the so-called Brodie book." This lengthy critique, written by " a Church Committee" of which Apostle Albert E, Bowen was apparently the principal author, attacked No Man Knows My History as "wholly atheistic," claiming that Fawn Brodie's "intense atheism" not only colored but determined "the approach and, almost completely, the content of her book," allowing ^*Improvement Era, March 1946. ^^ Deseret News, April 8, 1946.

16 Ibid.

I'Ibid. i8Juanita Brooks to Dale L. Morgan, April 15, 1946, copy in Juanita Brooks Papers, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

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"no place in human experience for the transcendental." Also, the fact that Brodie's husband was Jewish was aUuded to as influencing her lack of objectivity. This review conceded that "it is easy to grant the author the merit of a fine literary style throughout which makes the book altogether enticing reading." But it went on to note that "it is the style of the novelist and not of the historian. She has set up a pattern and cuts Joseph to fit it." The review then pointed out that "as a matter of research the author has produced nothing new," concluding that "little more can be said for the book than that it is a composite of all anti-Mormon books that have gone before pieced into a pattern conformable to the author's own particular rationale and bedded in some very bad psychology. "^^ This critique apparently mirrored the official Mormon position, for it was reprinted by the church and circulated as a missionary tract under the title Appraisal of the So-Called Brodie Book."^^ On the heels of the Appraisal came Hugh Nibley's more famous No, Ma'am, That's Not History. This pamphlet, subtided ^ Brief Review of Mrs. Brodie's Reluctant Vindication of a Prophet She Seeks to Expose, attacked No Man Knows My History for its use of historical parallels, that is, the author's assertion that Joseph Smith drew heavily from the social/cultural environment in which Mormonism developed. He also attacked the author for clinging "to the theory that all the prophet's thoughts and action were the result of slow and gradual evolution. "^^ Nibley did concede that Brodie was "not mad at anybody" and therefore her book was "not animated by violent hatred." Brodie's book, he continued, stood in contrast to the "thumping" polemical antiMormon biographies of earlier times that painted Joseph Smith in "total depravity" as a "complete scamp." According to Nibley, Brodie's "Joseph Smith was a complete impostor . . . but he meant well."

But this "new and humane interpretation of the prophet," Nibley

^9Deseret News,

M a y 11, 1946.

20 Appraisal of the So-Called Brodie Book (Salt L a k e C i t y , 1946).

21 Hugh Nibley, No, Ma'am, That's Not History (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946), p. 21. Nibley in refuting what he considered Brodie's extreme arguments made some rather extreme statements of his own. For example, on p. 46 Nibley asserted that "of all the Churches in the world only this one has not found it necessary to readjust any part of its doctrine in the last hundred years" and on pp. 61-62 he argued, " T h e gospel as the Mormons know it sprang full-grown from the words of Joseph Smith. It has never been worked over or touched up in any way, and is free of revisions and alterations." Taking note of Nibley's scholarship, Brodie made the following observations concerning his pamphlet: " I t is a flippant and shallow piece. He really did me a service by demonstrating the difference between his scholarship and mine. If that is the best a young Mormon historian can offer, then I am all the more certain that the death of B. H. Roberts meant the end of all that was truly scholarly and honest in orthodox Mormon historiography." Fawn M. Brodie to Thomas E. and Fawn B. McKay, May 27, 1946, original in Brodie Papers.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

asserted, "far from improving things makes everything much worse" by presenting the Mormon leader as a "more plausible character. "^^ Fawn Brodie also faced strong criticism within her own family.

Particularly striking was the response of Julian Cummings, an uncle married to the twin sister of Fawn's mother and to whom Fawn had been somewhat close while attending the University of Utah. In fact.

Fawn had sent Cummings a copy of No Man Knows My History shortly after its publication. After reading the book Cummings replied, " M y dear lady, you have been laboring under a false premise and it has led you to come to false conclusions." He then called upon his niece to "humble" herself before the Lord and ask Him for a pardon for her "sins." He warned that this would be "much easier accomplished in this life," because upon death she would "have no place to hide [her] errors." He continued: Your shame will be so mortifying that it will place you in an environment of darkness where you will see no one else and "think" that no one else sees you. There you will wander until you become so tired with your condition and so weakened and exhausted that a feeling of repentance will begin to manifest itself.

He further warned that this "is a very slow process and entails much suffering" that could "be avoided by taking advantage of repentance in this life. "23 A cousin, Ernest McKay of Huntsville, was not content to sit back and let providence take its course relative to Brodie's alleged transgressions. He spoke out against the book as a guest lecturer at various Mormon wards in the Ogden-Huntsville area. Seeing him in action, one observer noted that McKay "knew how to choose the parts [of Brodie's book] he wanted to bring out and then tear them to pieces, and convince his audience that [Fawn Brodie] was a very naughty girl." McKay, on at least one occasion, made the rather curious statement, " O n e thing is certain from her book, Mrs. Jew is not convinced of the things she has written. It is plain that she has not 22Nibley, No, Ma'am, That's Not History, pp. 7-8. Also attacking Brodie with the apparent approval of Mormon church leaders were Milton R. Hunter, a member of the church's First Quorum of the Seventy, who reviewed No Man Knows My History in Pacific Historical Review 15 (June 1946):226-28; and Francis W. Kirkham through his A New Witness for Christ in America (Independence, Mo.: Zion's Publishing Co., 1947), pp. 359-94.

23J. M. Cummings to Fawn M. Brodie, November 5, 1945, copy in Brodie Papers, box 9, fd. 14.

Brodie wasted little time in publicly disclosing the contents of Cummings's letter to the press, declaring that "one of my uncles has me eternally damned and wandering forever on the outer fringes of eternity." See Clip Boutell, "Writer Burns Bridges with Mormon Story," Washington Post, January 13, 1946. This same article with Brodie's quote found its way into at least one other newspaper — the Portland (Oregon) Journal, January 2, 1946.

Varied Responses

53

left her CHURCH."2* A third relative. Dr. Joseph Morrell of Ogden, an uncle through marriage, projected his hostile feelings toward Brodie and her book in a somewhat different fashion — through Madeline R. McQuown, a librarian in the Ogden Public Library, whom Brodie had known from her youth. Noted McQuown, " I have a little message for Fawn from the Church via Dr. Morrell— that she had better stay the hell out of Utah from now o n . " According to McQuown, " H e was careful to give me the message while he drank cocoa and ate peppermint ice cream with m e . " She concluded, "What do they think they could do to her? Call out the Danites?"25 The most telling response, however, came from Fawn Brodie's most famous relative, her uncle David O. McKay. Upon the publication of A^o Man Knows My History, he expressed, within his own family, feelings of resentment, disappointment, and betrayal, declaring that his niece had gathered her information "from the garbage cans of the Church. "26 In public, however, the prominent Mormon leader expressed his anger in a more oblique fashion. On February 3, 1946, speaking to an audience at Brigham Young University, McKay related a horse story in which he made indirect, yet clear allusions to Brodie, her background, and the bringing forth of her book. He told the story of Dandy, " a wefl-bred colt" with a "good disposition, clean well-rounded eyes . . . well proportioned, and all in all, a choice equine possession." But Dandy resented restraint. " H e was illcontented when tied and would nibble at the tie-rope until he was free." " H e hated to be confined in the pasture." His curiosity and desire to explore the neighborhood got him into trouble. One day Dandy broke through the fence getting out of his owner's field. He went into a neighbor's yard and got into an old house used for storage where he found a sack of grain. But the grain was poisoned bait for rodents. Within a few minutes Dandy was in spasmodic pain and died shortly thereafter. McKay then concluded: 2*Beatrice Johnson to Dale L. Morgan, October 7, 1946, original in Morgan Papers. For a description of Ernest McKay's activities see "Kaysville Class to Hear Current Book Discovered" from "Kaysville Papers — September 1946," typescript in Brodie Papers.

25Dale L. Morgan to Fawn M. Brodie, March 2, 1947, original in Brodie Papers. Brodie's reaction to her uncle's warning is interesting: "It makes me angry . . . I shall, of course, go back there, but what annoys me most is the realization that I am not entirely thick-skinned and those people will be able to needle me in some fashion or other— if only by cutting me dead. What I am trying to say is that until I get to the point where I am completely indifferent to what they say and do, I am not entirely free from them. And I am not quite there yet. But give me time." Fawn M. Brodie to Dean Brimhall, March 8, 1987. Dean R. Brimhall Papers, University of Utah Library.

26Edward McKay, "Recollections," oral history interview conducted by Newell G. Bringhurst, July 23, 1987.

54

Utah Historical Quarterly My heart aches this morning because one who was pretty close to me failed — violated conventions in childhood — later broke through the fence of consideration and decency — found the poison grain of unbelief, and now languishes in spiritual apathy and decay.^^

McKay had apparently felt that the rebeUious act of his niece required more drastic action. Indeed, it appears that in the fall of 1945, just after the publication of A^o Man Knows My History, he "initiated a resolution before the Twelve" calling for Fawn Brodie's excommunication. "But the matter was tabled on the grounds that it would make a martyr out of her. "^^ However, by May 1946 such official reticence no longer remained, and Fawn McKay Brodie was formally excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church officials charged her with apostasy. Referring to the contents of her biography, they stated: You assert matters as truths which of Mormon, the restoration of the through the instrumentality of the the beliefs, doctrines, and teachings

deny the divine origin of the Book Priesthood and of Christ's Church Prophet Joseph Smith, contrary to of the Church.^^

It appears that David O. McKay played a prominent role in the excommunication of his niece.^*^ In assessing the motives of her uncle, Brodie suggested that he "felt keenly the need for self-protection"^^ and "of disassociating himself with me in the most dramatic possible fashion. He undoubtedly felt that he would be condemned if I were treated leniently. Moreover, he is unquestionably very angry about the book anyway, and he is not a man to take things lying down."^^ The attacks on Fawn Brodie from David O. McKay and the Mormon church generally stood in sharp contrast to the encourage-

27As printed in the Deseret News "Church Section," February 23, 1946. A somewhat different version of this story in typescript form, entitled " T h e Thoroughbred" and identified as "Taken from a talk by David O. McKay at BYU in 1946," was brought to my attention by Barbara M. Smith.

28Dale L. Morgan to Juanita Brooks, June 3, 1946, original in Juanita Brooks Papers, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

29William H. Reeder, J r . , to Fawn M. Brodie, May 23, 1946, copy in Brodie Papers. Even though the story of Brodie's excommunication received national attention, going out on the AP wire and thus written up in newspapers throughout the United States, it received scant notice in the two major Salt Lake City newspapers. The Salt Lake Tribune, June 16, 1946, carried a short news article, " U t a h Author Loses L.D.S. Membership," buried on page 8B. The Deseret News did not accord Brodie even that much recognition, merely listing the church's official action in its usual weekly list of those "Excommunicated from the Church" as contained in its Saturday "Church Section."

30This according to Thomas B. McKay, "Recollections," oral history interview conducted by Newell G. Bringhurst, July 28, 1986, and Flora McKay Crawford, "Recollections," oral history interview conducted by Newell G. Bringhurst, September 30, 1988.

31 Fawn M. Brodie to Thomas E. and Fawn B. McKay, May 27, 1946, original in Brodie Papers.

32 Fawn M. Brodie to Thomas E. and Fawn B. McKay, June 2, 1946, original in Brodie Papers.

Varied Responses

55

ment and support that she received from within her immediate family. Her mother, whom Fawn described as a "quiet heretic," was especially supportive, particularly as the author came under increasing attack from church spokesmen. Indeed, Fawn Brimhall McKay had been "very supportive" of her daughter all along, even from the earliest stages of her research and writing.^^ This support continued unabated in the wake of Brodie's excommunication. She proclaimed, " I venture this prediction: This is one excommunication the Church will some day be ashamed of."^'^ The besieged author also drew comfort from her older sister. Flora, and two younger sisters, Barbara and Louise, who in the words of Barbara "were supportive right from day one."^^ Outside her immediate family. Fawn's uncle Dean Brimhall also encouraged his niece. From the earliest stages of her research she was inspired by Brimhall, Columbia-educated, a psychologist by training, outspoken, and known as somewhat of a maverick within the Latterday Saint community. Brodie dedicated No Man Knows My History to the memory of Brimhall's son, Lt. McKeen Eccles Brimhall, who had been killed in France during World War II. After reading Brodie's book, Brimhall proclaimed that his niece "had a hero in her book and that hero was T R U T H . " He went on, "she has raised our family to new levels of achievement. I know her grandfather, George H. Brimhall, would have been deeply moved with pride by the success of his granddaughter in the field of great creative writing. "^^ In response to Brodie's excommunication he critically noted, "the Church has made some unhappy history for itself. "^^ Thus Brimhall's response to the book stood in sharp contrast to those of David O. McKay, her other two uncles, and cousin. In fact, a family feud developed as Brimhall lashed out against David O. McKay in response to the " D a n d y " horse story that McKay had told at BYU. In writing his sister. Fawn's mother, he proclaimed: D. O. McKay's attack on the family at the BYU meeting must be answered. . . . I must say something because by indirection he 33 As related in Brodie, "Biography of Fawn McKay Brodie." Indeed, as early as 1940 Brodie noted that her mother had become " a thorough going heretic" and that it was "almost as much fun to discuss the Church with h e r " as with her outspoken uncle Dean Brimhall. See Fawn M. Brodie to Dean Brimhall, March 26, 1940, original in Brimhall Papers.

3'tFawn B. McKay to Dean Brimhall, June 18, 1946, original in Brimhall Papers.

35Barbara McKay Smith, "Recollections," p. 24, oral history interview conducted by Newell G. Bringhurst, July 21, 1986.

36Dean Brimhall to Preston Nibley, May 26, 1946, copy in Brimhall Papers.

37Dean Brimhall to Fawn B. McKay, June 16, 1946, copy in Brodie Papers.

5^

Utah Historical Quarterly attacked [Fawn's] "upbringing". He insulted father and since the book was dedicated to McKeen his slander about Fawn spread over me. There is no reason for David O. McKay to be protected in such unseemly action — even dishonest words about Fawn's unconventionality as a child. McKeen died to preserve free criticism.^^

Brimhall then concluded with a question: "Should I fail [McKeen] now by letting this dishonest attack go unpunished just because D. O. McKay is supposed to be a prophet of God?"^^ In contrast to her uncle Dean Brimhall, the male members of Fawn Brodie's immediate family were ambivalent in their reactions.

Thomas E. McKay, her father, found himself in an extremely awkward situation by virtue of his high church position as an assistant to the Council of Twelve and because of his relationship to David O. McKay. WeU aware of this, Fawn had initially offered to publish her biography under a pseudonym in order to protect her father. But he said "Definitely not," wanting his daughter to be completely up front in what she was doing. He supported his daughter's "right to write the book and to do the research" when questioned by outsiders. But he was not supportive of the book's content and basic interpretation."^^ He refused to discuss the book with his daughter or even acknowledge its existence in her presence,'^^ creating a barrier between them. In later years Brodie reflected on her father's response (or lack thereof): My father never did read the Joseph Smith biography. . . . I always felt . . . that his not reading it was an act of real hostility . . . and his refusal to discuss it, hurt me more, I think, than an angry argument about the contents would have done. At any rate, we both found it impossible to communicate on the subject, as on most others.*^

Brodie's brother, Thomas Brimhall McKay, was also ambivalent in his response. Like his father he was a devout, practicing Latter-day Saint, but unlike the elder McKay he was wiUing to discuss and debate with his sister the crucial issues raised in the biography. In fact, he carried out an open dialogue with Fawn as the book was in progress. Once it was completed, he defended Fawn and her right to write the book. But, like his father, he did not defend the book itself

38Dean Brimhall to Fawn B. McKay, March 24, 1946, copy in Brodie Papers.

39 Ibid. *oSmith, "Recollections," pp. 23-24. *i Louise McKay Card, "Recollections," p. 14, oral history interview conducted by Newell G. Bringhurst, August 1, 1986. *2Fawn M. Brodie to Dean Brimhall, November 4, 1959, original in Brimhall Papers.

Varied Responses

57

and felt that his sister's excommunication was justified. The Mormon church, he believed, had no other choice because of what Fawn had written and who she was.*^ Outside of the McKay family ambivalence to No Man Knows My History was also evident in the reactions of various Mormon writers and historians. The noted Utah novelist Vardis Fisher in the book review section of the New York Times gave the book a mixed evaluation. He praised Brodie as "zealous and industrious and about as impartial as any biographer can b e , " noting that "she has ably presented her thesis in a biography that is wefl worth reading." But Fisher also took the author to task for quoting "copiously . . . from books by embittered apostates" which "sometimes carelessly leaves the impression that such sources are as trustworthy as . . . court records." He also asserted that "now and then she appears to state as indisputable facts what can only be regarded as conjectures supported by doubtful evidence." In one of his most tefling criticisms Fisher noted that her book was "almost more a novel than a biography because she rarely hesitates to give the content of a mind or to explain motives which at best can only be surmised." He then went on to predict (somewhat inaccurately) that "It is this reviewer's notion that she will turn novelist in her next book, and that she should." Fisher noted that Brodie's book was "not the definitive biography" of Joseph Smith, adding parenthetically, "has there ever been one of anybody?" But he concluded "it is, nevertheless, a probing, and very satisfying volume."'** Likewise, Juanita Brooks, then deep into her own research on the controversial topic of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, offered a mixed reaction to No Man Knows My History. In a letter to Dale Morgan (a friend of both Brooks and Brodie) Brooks praised the book as one that "needed to be done." She continued, "It is scholarly . . . it is literary . . . it sets up new points from which to judge Joseph Smith. It certainly shows careful and patient research. I like especially her work on backgrounds and social conditions and current interests."*^ But she questioned Brodie's basic thesis: I do not believe that [Joseph Smith] was a conscious fraud and imposter. The things that were real to him may not seem so to her nor to you or to most other people, but I think they must have been *3Thomas B. McKay, "Recollections." **New York Times, November 25, 1945. *5juanita Brooks to Dale L. Morgan, December 9, 1945, copy in Brooks Papers.

5<9

Utah Historical

Quarterly

to him. I have felt that it was his own deep and sincere convictions that attracted and held his following. For a fraud, he inspired loyalties too deep in too many. Certainly he had something. Men, catching their spark from him, were willing to sacrifice too much to further his cause.

Elaborating on this point Brooks continued: I believe that it is possible for human beings to tap the great source of all good â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to contact God direct, if you will. I believe that there were times, rare perhaps, when Joseph Smith did that. I believe that it was those times that held his people to him in spite of all his human blunderings and frailties and mistakes. . . .^^

Brooks also questioned Brodie's interpretations derived from contemporary, controversial statements made by Smith, noting that "different people put entirely different interpretations even on simple statements. So with some of Fawn's material, I didn't always arrive at the same conclusions from her evidence that she did." Brooks predicted that "not many" Latter-day Saints would read Brodie's book, rejecting it out-of-hand as "just another" anti-Mormon book. She concluded, with greater accuracy, "But if Mormon laity will not read it, Mormon scholars should. Some of them wiU. And the book cannot but help have its effect, and in the long run, a very profound effect."*^ Indeed the profound effect predicted by Juanita Brooks for No Man Knows My History has been reflected by the varied responses expressed by scholars in the field of Mormon history since 1945.

Leonard J . Arrington, the dean of Mormon historians, reflected his own ambivalence, declaring in Dialogue in 1966 that "Despite the evidence of prodigious research, despite the charming imagery of its style and its stirring chronicle of an enigmatic career, the book has two methodological weaknesses." The first involved Brodie's limited "appreciation of religious phenomena generally" and her refusal "to accord integrity to the many men of undoubted intellect and character who associated with the Mormon prophet and believed him to be an inspired leader." Second, according to Arrington, Brodie was concerned "with painting a pen portrait rather than with writing a work of history." That is, she began her work "by studying this historical background sufficiently to formulate what she regarded as a reasonable and believable approach to Joseph Smith and then proceeded to

*6Ibid.

47 Ibid.

Varied Responses

59

mobilize the evidence to illustrate and support her interpretation."*^ Also ambivalent in his reaction was Robert B. Flanders, author of Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi and a leading scholar within the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. According to Flanders, also writing in Dialogue in 1966, Brodie was "so antiMormon in her own intellectual orientation that she succumbed to the temptation to bring nineteenth century literature of Mormon countersubversion uncritically and in large doses into her own work." He noted the author's "zeal to create the grand and ultimate expose of Mormonism," describing the book as her "subtle yet emphatic declaration of spiritual and intellectual independence from her Mormon origins and antecedents, set in a format of wide research and a popularized journalistic writing style, with an abundance of blood, sex, and sin." But Flanders conceded that No Man Knows My History was "so exhaustive in its coverage and painstaking in its use of primary sources that it has become a recognized standard work on Mormon origins and early history . . . unparaUeled in the field, and may remain so for some time, a guide to those who undertake less ambitious studies."*^ Writing eight years later, again in Dialogue, Flanders reaffirmed his earlier assessment that Brodie's book was a "transitional work." " A new era," he continued, "dawned with her book. AU subsequent serious studies of early Mormonism have necessarily had Brodie as a referent point. "^° Ambivalence among scholars of Mormon history continued in the wake of the publication of a second and enlarged edition of No Man Knows My History in 1971. This occasion generated two lengthy critiques by Marvin S. Hill, professor of history at Brigham Young University. The first appeared in Dialogue in 1972 and the second in Church History in 1974. Hifl recognized Brodie's book as "the most influential book on early Mormonism, a status it has retained. "^^ *8 Leonard J . Arrington, "Scholarly Studies of Mormonism in the Twentieth Century," Dialogue 1 (Spring 1966): 24-25. Arrington also pointed to what he considered a third major defect in Brodie's biography in a letter to William D. Russell: " I n fact . . . the chief defect of her book is that it was written from materials in the New York Public Library, Yale Library, and Chicago Historical Library, which were essentially anti-Mormon collections, plus the research she did in the RLDS Library. That she did not use material in [the LDS Archives] largely explains her portrait of Joseph Smith. Certainly, if she were to see the documents which are now available, not only to me but to others, it would certainly be a different portrait." Leonard J . Arrington to William D. Russell, October 24, 1972, copy in Brodie Papers. *9Robert Bruce Flanders, "Writing the Mormon Past," Dialogue 1 (Autumn 1966); 58-59.

50Robert B. Flanders, "Some Reflections on the New Mormon History," Dialogue 9 (Spring 1974): 35.

51 Marvin S. Hill, "Secular or Sectarian History? A Critique of A'o Man Knows My History," Church History 43 (March 1974): 78.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

Among the contributions made by Brodie's biography, according to Hill, were the author's convincing rejection of the Spaulding theory concerning the origins of the Book of Mormon, her consideration of Joseph Smith within the context of the social and intellectual currents of his time, and her depiction of Smith as " a rational human being" (through her rejection of the earlier view of I. Woodbridge Riley that Smith was an epileptic and the later interpretation of Bernard DeVoto that the Mormon leader was paranoid). Hill also credited Brodie with bringing out Smith's "human qualities, his loves, his hates, his fears, his hopes and ambitions." In Hill's words, "She helped many Mormons to recall that the prophet had a human side and that not all of what he did was done in the name of the Lord nor with transcendental significance." Hifl also credited Brodie with stimulating historical debate and further investigation on a number of crucial, controversial topics, including the First Vision, authorship of both the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham, and the whole question of Mormon polygamy.^^ He pointed to entire issues of Dialogue and Brigham Young University Studies that had been devoted to various controversial issues raised in Fawn Brodie's biography.^^ "Thus it should be evident," Hill asserted, "that Brodie has written an immensely important book, a powerful book, which greatly influenced the thinking of Mormon liberals and conservatives with respect to the life of the prophet."^* Despite these positive responses to the book, Hill took care to note that No Man Knows My History "falls short of greatness" because of certain "fundamental weaknesses." Hill, like earlier Mormon critics, felt that Brodie was incorrect in her basic thesis that Smith was a "deliberate deceiver who played out his masquerade for personal advantage" and that Smith's "religious efforts were play-acting for the benefit of an appreciative audience." Along this same line. Hill maintained that Brodie's biography "was external only" and that she "was never able to take us inside the mind of the prophet, to understand how he thought and why."^^ Hill seemed to attribute this deficiency in part to Brodie's failure (and/or inability) to utilize primary

52Marvin S. Hill, "Brodie Revisited: A Reappraisal" Dialogue 7 (Winter 1972): 73-74.

53 See Brigham Young University Studies 9 ( S p r i n g 1 9 6 9 ) a n d 10 ( S p r i n g 1970), also Dialogue 3 (Summer-Autumn 1968). Although, as Hill notes, "her book is rarely cited in the footnotes" of these two journals which "have published the bulk of the anti-Brodie articles." Hill, "Secular or Sectarian History," p. 78.

54 Hill, "Brodie Revisited," p. 74.

55Ibid., pp. 74-75.

Varied Responses

61

source materials written by and to Smith and contained in the Mormon church archives and, more important, to her preconceptions or assumptions that prevented her from getting "back into Joseph Smith's nineteenth century world which was so religious in its orientation." Hill continued: She cannot handle the religious mysticism of the man or of the age because there is too much of modern science in her make-up, too much Sigmund Freud, too much rationalism. For Brodie to believe in the reality of another world, a world of the spirit seems incredible.^^

He attributed Brodie's naturalistic portrait of Smith to her rebellion against her Mormon heritage coupled with a general "cynicism toward religion" that existed "among many intellectuals" during the 1930s and 1940s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the very time Brodie was writing her biography.

According to Hill, this made the author Anxious to destroy the image of Mormonism that saw it as something to be sneered or laughed at. Such concerns may have caused Brodie to over-stress the prophet's rationality, play down his mysticism, and dismiss his religious thought which was perhaps embarrassing as a "patchwork of ideas and rituals. "^^

Hill also felt that Brodie's biography suffered from what he termed its "sectarian" orientation, that is, her highly moralistic, either/or approach â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an approach ironically rooted in her Mormon background. Brodie's "moral indignation" over Smith's limitations and indiscretions caused her to "overstate her case" by concluding that such foibles meant that Joseph Smith could not possibly have been a true prophet. Hill concluded with some irony that Brodie's thesis with its "either-or alternatives was precisely the same" as that "presented by the early Mormon and missionary Orson Pratt in the 1840s and 1850s." Whereas Pratt affirmed that in the light of Smith's accomplishments "he must have been a true prophet," Brodie, a hundred years later, "looking at [Smith's] limitations concluded he was a fraud." Brodie's original thesis. Hill noted, "opens considerable room for speculation. . . . Historians should . . . explore the broad, promising middle ground . . . neither Pratt nor Brodie fully perceived. "^^ Despite such ambivalence among Mormon writers. No Man Knows My History has continued to enjoy a high degree of respect

56Ibid., p. 75.

57 Ibid.

58Hill, "Secular or Sectarian History?," pp. 93-96.

Utah Historical Quarterly

62

i7

/'

ii

â&#x20AC;˘.xl^-

Fawn Brodie autographed books at Sam Welter's bookstore in Salt Lake City in 1974.

among scholars in the general field of American religious history 59 This is the case even with the appearance of four subsequent booklength studies on Joseph Smith published within the last twenty years.

These include Carl Carmer's The Farm Boy and the Angel published in 1970; Donna }:l\\\'s Joseph Smith: The First Mormon which appeared in 1977; Francis M. Gihhons's Joseph Smith: Martyr, Prophet of God, also published in 1977; and Richard L. ^ushmdirv s Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, 1984. Each of the four has limitations that have prevented it from supplanting No Man Knows My History as the most widely respected biography of the Mormon leader. Carmer in The Farm Boy and the Angel apparently started out to write an in-depth definitive biography but ended up, for various reasons, writing a popular narrative on the church's early years. Donna HiU's Joseph Smith: The First Mormon, while incorporating a great deal of the current scholarship of the "new Mormon history," suffers from chronic organizational problems that produced a cross between a 59 For example, Sidney E. Alhstrom, mA Religious History of America (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), p. 504, called Brodie's biography a "sympathetic and insightful account . . . unequaled" as a life of the Mormon prophet. More recently, however, Davis Bitton and Leonard J. Arrington in Mormons and Their Historians (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988), pp. 108-25, discuss Brodie and her biography of Joseph Smith within the context of a group of historians without history degrees who were considered part of a "lost generation" of writers of Mormon history.

Varied Responses

63

biography and a narrative of early church history. Francis M. G\bhons's Joseph Smith: Martyr, Prophet of God, is little more than a faithpromoting hagiography, virtually ignored by serious scholars both within and outside of the Latter-day Saint community. Finally, Richard L. Bushman^s Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, despite being carefully researched and written, is not really a true biography of the Mormon leader in that it does not go beyond 1831 in exploring Smith's life and activities. Thus Fawn M. Brodie's No Man Knows My History continues to be, by default, the closest thing to a definitive biography of the Mormon leader.

Even Brodie herself seemed somewhat surprised by this fact. In 1975 she confessed that "It is astonishing to me that there has not been . . . a better biography," and in 1980 she wrote her friend and fellow iconoclast Samuel W. Taylor, declaring that her "Joseph Smith book is going to be a thorn for a long, long time."^^ Brodie, however, was a bit too limited in her latter assessment. Sterling M. McMurrin in a tribute to Fawn Brodie written for Dialogue shortly after her death in 1981 proclaimed that No Man Knows My History represented " a watershed in the treatment of Mormon history by Mormon historians" because in its wake "Mormon history produced

by Mormon scholars . . . moved toward more openness, objectivity, and honesty." This involved " a more genuine commitment to the pursuit of truth, and greater courage in facing criticism or even condemnation," creating what McMurrin termed " a new climate of Liberation."^^ In this same vein, Richard S. Van Wagoner, writing for Sunstone, concluded, "Though we may disagree with [Brodie's] assessment of the truth respecting Mormonism, No Man Knows My History may be the major impetus in the quest for a less apologetic, more objective Mormon history. "^^ Thus it is apparent that No Man Knows My History has and will continue to have a potent influence on the writing of early Mormon history, at least until someone produces a more comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and more deftly written biography of Joseph Smith â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a task that remains undone some forty-three years after the first appearance of Brodie's provocative biography.

60Brodie, "Biography of Fawn McKay Brodie," p. 9; Fawn M. Brodie to Samuel W. Taylor, May 21, 1980, original in Samuel W. Taylor Papers, Utah State Historical Society.

61 Sterling M. McMurrin, " A New Climate of Liberation: A Tribute to Fawn McKay Brodie, 1915-1981," Dialogue 15 (1982), 73-76.

62Richard S. Van Wagoner, "Fawn Brodie: The Woman and Her History," Sunstone 7 (JulyAugust 1982): 37.

Shattering the Vase: The Razing of the Old Salt Lake Theatre

BY R O N A L D W . W A L K E R A N D A L E X A N D E R M . S T A R R

Dr. Walker is senior research historian, Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History, Brigham Young University. Dr. Starr is assistant professor of theatre, Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

Long long be my heart with much memories filled.

Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled.

You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will.

But the scent of roses will hang round it still.

Sir Thomas More

O N APRIL 15, 1928,

THE SALT LAKE

which, according to its own account, gave its readers "great surprise" and "shock." The Mormon church, the newspaper disclosed, planned to sell the venerable Salt Lake Theatre to the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company.^ Though the Tribune reported the sale before terms had been finalized, the story was accurate.

Almost two weeks before, President Heber J . Grant had consented to dispose of the building with an adjoining piece of property for $200,000. In turn, the telephone company announced the construction of a new office building similar to its Denver headquarters. If a modern skyscraper was not sufficient inducement for the removal of the fading theatre building, the company softened the blow by suggesting the playhouse would continue for several seasons. Construction of the new building, a company spokesman suggested, probably lay several years in the future.^ TRIBUNE RAN A STORY

Andrew J. Russell photographed the Salt Lake Theatre as it neared completion on First South and State streets. In the distance are the Beehive House and the original Eagle Gate. Courtesy of the Oakland Museum.

^Salt Lake Tribune, April 15, 1928, pp. 1, 5, and April 16, 1928, p. 6.

2lbid., April 15, 1928, pp. 1, 5, and Heber J .

Grant, Typed Diary, April 2, 1928, Heber J . Grant Papers, Library-Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah (hereafter Library-Archives). Because current LDS archival policy limits the access and use of materials, particularly those of the presidents of the church, we have been unable to verify many citations. In citing materials from the Heber J . Grant collection we have supplied box and folder information only when access to materials cannot be traced by using the current Heber J. Grant register.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

These events began something unusual. They began a preservationist controversy in Mormon country decades before the movement gained its later twentieth-century force. They also showed a different side to Mormonism. Outsiders often saw the church as monolithic and its members as lock-step compliant. But during the theatre uproar Mormons argued with Mormons, and some hotly questioned the decisions of President Grant, their revered "prophet, seer, and revelator."

The reason for these emotions lay with the theatre itself. From the beginning it had been a community expression, something like a cathedral of a medieval town. Brigham Young himself announced the project in February 1861 and pursued its completion as "designer and general dictator of the whole affair."^ At the time. Salt Lake City was a frontier outpost of 12,000 people. The telegraph had recently established communications with the wider world, but no transcontinental railroad existed to freight supplies or help with construction.

Yet, before building a much-needed enlarged meeting hall or before completing the Salt Lake Temple â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the building always envisioned as the city's centerpiece â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the settlers erected the theatre, which when completed was easily the largest and most imposing structure in the territory.* It was a huge undertaking. The site, once adjoining a stream bed of one of City Creek's meandering branches, required careful excavation and expert placing of footings. For the latter, workmen secured and placed large sandstone slabs from Red Butte Canyon. To support the parquet and stage, teamsters shipped giant red pine beams from Big Cottonwood Canyon, twenty-five miles to the south. At ground level the walls derived their strength from four-foot-thick stonework encased on each side by foot-wide adobe bricking, which laborers in turn covered with plaster. In order to secure the necessary 385,000 bricks, additional workmen took clay from the benches above the city and mixed it with straw and gravel at the future site of the Denver and Rio Grande Depot. The resulting indentations were so large that for several years they afforded winter skating.^ 3 Historian's Office Journal, February 15 and August 21, 1861, Library-Archives. *Some called it "the Fun House," Historian's Office Journal, August 25, 1861.

5 Statement of John F. Squires in George D. Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse (Salt Lake City: Seagull Press, 1928), pp. 279-80; Roberta Asahina, "Brigham Young and the Salt Lake Theatre, 18621877" (Ph.D. diss.. Tufts University, 1980), pp. 86-87; Ila Fisher Maughan, Pioneer Theater in the Desert (Salt Lake City: Desert Book Company, 1961), pp. 76-77; Charles T. Husbands to George D. Pyper, October 8, 1828, George Pyper Papers, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City; and Salt Lake Tribune, December 20, 1928, p. 28, and March 16, 1939, p. 11.

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Big Cottonwood Canyon supplied giant red pine for the theatre's timber supports.

USHS collections.

The brick makers, carpenters, lumbermen, masons, plasterers, stonecutters, teamsters, and common laborers were assisted by other men and women who often displayed frontier ingenuity. Faced with the scarcity of nails the Mormons scavenged iron from the burned and wrecked government wagons still lying on the Wyoming desert, casualties of the late Utah War.^ The roof showed equal enterprise.

Eighty-five-foot spans, each composed of seven two-by-fourteen stringers, were tied together by handcrafted wooden pegs. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of these were required, which according to tradition were whittled by women in their evening hours after the completion of household chores.^ Former sailors, accustomed to the height of ships' masts, helped complete the upper levels of the building, working at the personal request of Brigham Young.^ Indeed, "nearly every family residing in Great Salt Lake City at the time," thought one historian, "was represented on the roster of workmen."^ Some of the community's best talent was employed. Hiram B. Clawson represented Brigham Young and supervised day-to-day activity. William H. Folsom was the supervising architect, while the recently emigrated E. L. T. Harrison, a warm admirer of Drury Lane's elegant filigree, designed the galleries, ceiling, front boxes, and proscenium. George M. Ottinger, assisted by Henry Maiben and William Morris, painted scenery.^° 6 Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, pp. 77-78.

TSatt Lake Tribune, December 20, 1928, p. 28. sWilliam Reed to George Pyper, February 4, 1912, Pyper Papers.

9 Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, p. 80. '°Ibid., pp. 76-77, quoting Hiram B. Clawson, "Early Theatricals," March 20, 1907.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

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Salt Lake Theatre, probably in the 1880s after the advent of electrical power service in the city. USHS collections.

After less than a year and an estimated expenditure of $100,000 the theatre was sufficiently finished for a formal dedication. President Daniel H. Wefls's prayer blessed at length each part of the structure (his wife Louisa, exhausted by his petition, wondered if he shouldn't have "left out some of the lath and plaster"). It also bore a Delphic quality: " O Lord, preserve forever this house pure and holy for the habitation of Thy people. . . . Suffer no evil or wicked influences to predominate or prevail within these walls; . . . rather than this, . . . let it utterly perish and crumble to atoms; let it be as though it had not been, an utter waste, each and every part returned to its natural element. "^^ By modern standards the Salt Lake Theatre was not large. Its outward dimensions were 80 by 144 feet, rising 40 feet from the water table to the square of the building.^^ j^g capacity was estimated at 1,500. But at the time some wondered if Brigham had not overbuilt.

11 Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, pp. 83-85. In December 1862, after further refinement to the building, another dedicatory service was rendered. Wilford Woodruff Diary, December 22, 1862, Library-Archives. For additional detail on the dedication see Brigham Young to George Q. Cannon, March 11, 1862, Brigham Young Letter Book, vol. 6, Brigham Young Papers, Library-Archives.

12Brigham Young Manuscript History, March 5, 1862, Library-Archives.

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Croo;^ /m^<f M/? May 3, 1910, to buy tickets to James M. Barrie's What Every Woman Knows starring Maude Adams. The famed actress was always well received in her home town. Note stairway on side of building and marquee attached to facade. Awning in lower right covered a refreshment stand. Bill Shipler photograph, USHS collections.

Certainly it appeared disproportionate to its sparse, pioneer. Great Basin landscape. Alfred Lambourne, later a distinguished Utah artist, remembered first seeing the "white oblong building" as he walked down the eastern slope as a newly arrived immigrant. "How calmly imposing it used to appear, how grandly massive it showed in the twilight, or when the moonlight was falling upon its white walls! "^3 In later years it would be ill served by accumulated clutter: a distracting marquee, obstructing telephone lines, and an iron grate stairway attached to its eastern wall. Initially, however, its exterior lines were chaste. Two simple Doric columns commanded the entrance which had an inviting space of thirty-two by twenty feet. The remaini3Alfred Lambourne, A Playhouse (Salt Lake City, n.p., n.d.), pp. 11, 13.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

der of the facade was distinguished by simple lines and the chalky white plaster that seemed magical at nightfall. In contrast, the interior, particularly after a 1873 renovation, strove for elegance. It was fashioned in the style of a European opera house with a comfortable parquet and four ascending circles. Two boxes overlooked the sloping and unusually spacious stage. Further to the rear, the theatre had ample dressing, rehearsal, and storage rooms that at least one sophisticated traveler thought few American or European playhouses could equal.^* As always, beauty lay with the beholder. One visitor found its appointments commonplace, the audience sparse and dreary, and the theatre's lamps inadequate.^^ Others, however, enthusiastically spoke of its "beauty and size."^^ WiUiam Hepworth Dixon, the gifted British intellectual and journalist, thought it a "model playhouse."

Its gold and white interior conveyed "perfect light" and "scrupulous cleanliness of every part."^^ In 1865 Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax claimed he "never saw any thing better in a Theatre."^^ Too, Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican and like Colfax generally no admirer of the Saints, could scarcely restrain his praise: The building is itself a rare triumph of art and enterprise. No eastern city of one hundred thousand inhabitants, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; remember Salt Lake City has less than twenty thousand, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; possesses so fine a theatrical structure. It ranks, alike in capacity and elegance of structure and finish, along with the opera houses and academies of music of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cincinnati.'^

Yet even at the playhouse's most happy moment there were problems on the horizon. The Saints wanted a legitimate and Christian theatre, not simply a place of pageant or where religious themes could be dramatized, but a playhouse of uplifting, serious, legitimate theatre, presented with the highest moral standards. "While striving 1*Brigham Young Manuscript History, March 5, 1862; William Hepworth Dixon, The New America, 2 vols. (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1867), 1:202; Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, p. 307; Salt Lake Tribune, December 30, 1956, section 2, p. 1. isjustin McCarthy, "Brigham Young," Galaxy, February 1870, p. 179; Also H. R. Jones, San Francisco and Back, p. 125, cited in William J . McNiff, Heaven on Earth: A Planned Society (Oxford, Ohio: Mississippi Valley Press, 1940), p. 138.

16 A. Howard Cutting, June 18, 1863, "Journal of a Trip by Overland Route . . . to Sacramento

by Way of the Oregon Trail and Salt Lake City, April 13 to July 17, 1863," Huntington Library, San Marino, .California.

17Dixon, New America, p. 202. iBWoodruff Diary, June 17, 1865.

19 Samuel Bowles, Across the Continent: A Summer's Journey to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific States (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1865), p. 103. Other encomiums could be cited. Fitz-Hugh Ludlow believed the theatre had but "two or three superiors in the United States.'' See Heart of the Continent (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1870), p. 370.

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to 'hold the mirror u p to n a t u r e , ' " asserted one of President Young's stage managers, " w e have sought to draw a pall over that which was not calculated to benefit and elevate fallen h u m a n i t y . "^^ T h e tension and perhaps contradiction of that taskâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;mirroring h u m a n i t y while SATDRIlAYEyi.MAR.20.1 avoiding its unpleasant aspectâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;would h a u n t the theatre to its final m o m e n t .

By all accounts Brigham's theatre was " p r o p e r . " T h e prophet argued that any of its thespians "should be prepared, if necessary, to preach a funeral sermon, or pray if he is called u p o n to do so; and I never want to see a w o m a n perform . . . that is not filled with truth and virtue. "^^ W h e n Lucille Western created " t h e wildest sensations" by pasting a thin slice of raw beef to her face in an 1869 production of Oliver Twist, President Young, horrified Photograph of 1869 playbill. by such onstage realism, promptly susUSHS collections. pended the technique.^^ Bishop J o h n Sheepshanks, visiting from his Norwich, England, rectory, verified the probity of the M o r m o n stage. At first he refused President Young's invitation to attend a production. " N o , I dare say not, and with good r e a s o n , " Young told his Anglican counterpart. " B u t if you come to our theatre you need not leave your religion at the d o o r . " Sheepshanks came, and he noted one of Young's methods of control: " T h e President, . . . did not like much noise and if the applause became loud and vigorous, his well-known face would be seen protruding from the curtain of his box and looking round, and lo! at once all was h u s h e d . " Sheepshanks left Salt Lake City impressed, wishing that " w e could have recreation of the same sort in England. "23

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20 S t a t e m e n t of F r e d e r i c k C a i n e , F e b r u a r y 5 , 1866, in P y p e r , Romance of an Old Playhouse, p . 1 5 2 .

21 Sermon, October 8, 1864, Brigham Young Papers.

22 P y p e r , Romance of an Old Playhouse, p . 160.

23 McNiff, Heaven On Earth, p. 148. President Young repeatedly preached against whistling and undue applause. " I have often felt that I would order the curtain dropped, and give a sharp reproof to those who scream, whistle, stamp, and indulge in many other unwise [and] reprehensible demonstrations." Sermon, October 8, 1864, Brigham Young Papers.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

Interior of Salt Lake Theatre decorated for a November 1906 charity ball. Bill Shipler photograph, USHS collections.

The Mormons had never intended to use the building for theatrical programs only. The dress circle had been designed to allow the placing of a movable floor over the parquet seats, which permitted everything from children's parties to extravagant grand balls. "Forty Cotillions were on the floor at once," Elder Wilford Woodruff breathlessly noted after the theatre opened.^^ Before Young's death the theatre began to change. Apparently reacting to its increasingly secular tone, the church leader and his associates attended less regularly, and he refused to renew his usual order for forty season tickets.^^ There were other signs. While formal balls might honor the Mormon Battalion and the pioneers, quite in keeping with the building's original exclusiveness, there were also state or military cotillions for the territory's officials and benefit dances for city firemen, the Deseret Hospital, and Jewish charity.^^ 24Woodruff Diary, July, 3, 16, and 20, 1863.

25 Brigham Young to the Salt Lake Theatre Corporation, October 20, 1874, and Brigham Young to General Authorities, October 20, 1874, Brigham Young Letter Books, vol. 13; Salt Lake Herald, February 19, 1875, p. 3.

26Heber J. Grant Manuscript Diary, November 29, 1888, Library-Archives; and Woodruff Diary, July 3, 16, and 20, 1863, July 4, 1867, January 10 and 11, 1870, February 22, 1870, February 22, 1875, February 14, 1883, and October 28, 1891.

Razing the Salt Lake Theatre

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The rising, non-Mormon and pluralistic spirit also colored some of its productions. Complained the Salt Lake Herald: " A lower style of entertainment, melodrama, juggling, and tumbling, [now] serve to fill the house. "27 Reflecting the maturing of Utah, the theatre came to host such non-pioneer and non-theocratic things as lectures by George Francis Train, Oscar Wilde, and the phrenologist Dr. Orson Fowler; a seminar in shorthand technique; and even an exhibition of Japanese musclemen.^s It also became a site for rambunctious political activity quite in contrast to the sedate and united style of the pioneers' Peoples' party. "Forensic giants . . . have been heard in nomination of candidates, in denunciation of parties, in merry quip and sarcastic sally," it would later be said of the Democratic and Republican conventions held at the theatre.^^ The theatre's dramatic productions showed signs of cultural accommodation. At first, religiously oriented " h o m e " or local stock companies dominated its stage, with occasional imported "stars" and stage technicians assisting. But the completion of the transcontinental railway placed Utah on the national circuit and reversed things. "Actors from the East were accepted as readily as plays from the East," observed a historian of Utah's early culture. " T h e East, in turn, had frequently received its plays from Europe. If there had been any chance of building a distinct type of actor and play in Utah, the actors on the way to California proved too much for the managers of the Salt Lake Theatre to resist. "^^ There was scarcely a "star" of the American stage who did not make a Salt Lake Theatre appearance. Many names still bring recognition: Maude Adams; P. T. Barnum; the Barrymore family— Ethel, John, and Lionel; Sarah Bernhardt; Edwin Booth; BiUie Burke; "Buffalo Bill" Cody; Fannie Davenport; John Drew; Eddie Foy; Charles and Daniel Frohman; Al Jolson; Liflian RusseU; DeWitt Talmage; and scores of others.^^ Judged from the perspective of entertaining and sometimes exacting theater, such performers brought the theatre its "golden age" of drama.

But the Mormon leaders were less interested in drama than in religious teaching, and they understandably responded coolly to the •iTSatt Lake Herald, February 19, 1875, p. 3.

28 Woodruff Diary, August 30, 1869, April 27, 1870, December 16, 1881, December 4, 1882.

•^^Satt Lake Tribune, October 8, 1928, p. 20.

30McNiff, Heaven on Earth, p. 155.

31 Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, pp. 257-60; Salt Lake Tribune, October 21, 1928, pp. 9-10.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

theatre's new tone. During his last years when Brigham attended less frequently, other church leaders followed suit.^^ x h e play Adam and Eve, one General Authority typically judged, was "hardly a suitable piece [to] put upon the Salt Lake stage."^^ Even the city's youth found themselves at times embarrassed. " I remember the awful shock it was to my feelings and aU young Mormonism, when the first undressed show appeared on the Salt Lake stage," recalled a young theatergoer many years later.^^^ Timid by modern standards, the ascending hemlines and costume brevity shocked Victorian sensibility.

The secularizing trend continued in the twentieth century as the theatre became increasingly tied to the national theatrical circuit and consequently to New York booking agencies that virtually controlled attractions. The arrangement left little room for local standards and local control â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but growing uneasiness by church leaders.

One of those most concerned was Elder Heber J. Grant. Growing up a block and a half from the theatre, he regarded the building almost like "the home where he was born." Rachel, his widowed mother, had worked there as a seamstress, while once during childhood he had filled a supernumerary role in Uncle Tom's Cabin. His zest for the place bordered on compulsion. While a teenager, in order to avoid paying twenty-five cents for a third circle ticket, money the family could ill afford, he had hauled a heavy five-gallon water can from a Social HaU alley well to refresh the "Gods of the Gallery."

During the 1890s, as one of the city's rising businessmen, he had purchased a controfling interest of the theatre's stock and became its proprietor. ^^ His action probably saved the building, which had never been very profitable, from an early closing.

On becoming Mormonism's senior apostle and later its president, Grant found himself increasingly concerned about the theatre.

On one hand, there was his continuing love for the old building and his belief that he should patronize the arts. These feelings, however, were balanced by religious and practical factors. " T h e general tendency . . . is to make a heroine of a fallen woman," he complained of many of the theatre's programs. In his view there was a lack of "clean sweet plays with a good moral," but even when these were produced,

^^Salt Lake Herald, February 19, 1875, p. 3.

33Woodruff Diary, June 28, 1888.

34 Heber J. Grant to Stephen L. Richards, May 5, 1920, Grant Papers.

35Sa// Lake Tribune, April 16, 1928, p. 6; Grant to Dr. H. T. Plumb, October 21, 1926, in Heber J . Grant Typed Diary, following entry of October 24, 1926, Grant Papers.

75

Razing the Salt Lake Theatre

Salt Lake Theatre production ca. 1918-19 of Orestes Bean's Corianton, a play based on Book of Mormon characters. USHS collections.

One of several publicity shots taken by Bill Shipler on June 14, 1916, for the Salt Lake Theatre run of D. W. Griffith's epic Birth of a Nation. USHS collections. ' ^ 1 ^ ^

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Utah Historical Quarterly

he conceded they seldom drew.^^ Still an inveterate theatregoer, Grant was driven from the theatre by many plays after the first act, with his guests in tow. "It is a great humiliation to me the class of shows that we have to submit to on account of our being under contract to . . . the booking agents in New York," he despaired.^^ Proper standards were not his only concern. The theatre never was much of a moneymaker. Before returning the building to church ownership at the turn of the century, he estimated his ten-year proprietorship had cost him between $30,000 and $40,000, the difference between the playhouse's small profits and the cost of carrying his loan on the property. The twentieth century made conditions even more precarious. Vaudeville, motion pictures, and the automobile were taking customers from the aisles. Church officials temporarily leased the building, but the new operators did no better, even during the generally prosperous World War I years.^^ Finally by 1921 it looked as if President Grant would have to close the theatre. While meeting expenses and taxes, it had not issued a dividend for years. Receipts turned sharply downward in April, the beginning of a recession that affected the Intermountain states throughout the 1920s. Struggling to pay its own bills, the church could in afford the theatre's rising overhead and capital expenses.

National troupes were experiencing even higher transportation and labor costs. The aging theatre, in turn, required new seats, carpeting, roofing, the repair of the exterior, and an expensive ventilating system demanded by the city.^^ By August 1921, faced with expenses estimated to exceed $26,000, President Grant wondered whether the playhouse should not at last be closed, especially if the city refused to waive its demands.*° Rumors of a possible closure had circulated for many years. As often, there had been eloquent pleas in its behalf. "Does the place stand for nothing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; does it represent no ideals?" lectured leading man Henry Mifler at an emotional 1922 curtain call. He continued, "This Theatre don't belong to you; it belongs to the nation, and it's 36Grant Typed Diary, September 23, 1908, January 2, 1911, and May 27, 1914.

3''Grant to Stephen L. Richards, May 5, 1920, General Correspondence, Grant Papers; Grant Typed Diary, April 13, 1928.

38Grant Manuscript Diary, April 26, 1912, Grant Papers; Minutes of the Salt Lake Dramatic Association, especially February 6, 1915, George D. Pyper Papers.

39George D. Pyper to Heber J . Grant, June 9, 1921, Pyper Papers; Salt Lake Dramatic Association Minutes, August 17, 1921. *oSah Lake Dramatic Association Minutes, August 17, 1921; Grant Typed Diary, August 17, 1921.

Razing the Salt Lake Theatre

77

your duty to preserve it. Remodel it, make it comfortable as you will; we do honor to it, not for the stone, adobes or mortar put into it, but because it represents ideals." His speech, "applauded to the echo," ended with an emotional rendering of "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" by audience and actor alike.*^ Ethel Barrymore was another of the national actors testifying to the theatre's national constituency. She found the playhouse "beautiful, a very 'theater' theater," quaint with its English, sloping stage, which was one of two or three left in America. " I was afraid I was going to play in a new . . . [theater]," she told her charmed audience at the close of the second act of W. Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife. " I want to play here until I am 100 years old."*^ There was reason for such sentiment. Confirming Daniel Wells's long-forgotten benediction, the building had "cemented" itself together into a comfortable ambience. Its close-built, horseshoe tiers provided unusual acoustics and a wonderful intimacy. But most of all, for people loving old things it had become a favored relic of another era. Only two, perhaps three, theaters in the nation were older, and none rivaled its rich pioneer traditions and history.

President Grant was not immune to such feeling, and ten months after almost closing the theatre, he remained uncertain. "There are no plans at present before the owners of the theatre as to its future," reported George D. Pyper, the theatre's long-time manager, "but I expect that by the end of the season something definite will be decided upon."*^ While no announcement was issued, Variety, the New Yorkbased show business tabloid, reported a hopeful sign. "President Heber J. Grant of the Mormon Church has purchased additional stock in the historic old Salt Lake theatre," it informed its national audience. "It seems that the president . . . means business now when he says the theatre will stand, and buys stock to preserve it."'^* In contrast to his impetuosity in the early 1890s, when within a hurried forty-eight hour span he bought and saved the theatre with personal loans, President Grant's acts were now piecemeal and indecisive. He quietly approved minor renovation, including the deficitfinanced, $7,000 installation of red, plush chairs for the parquet.*^ '^^ Deseret News, April 26 and May 5, 1922, section 2, p. 8 and section 2, p. 1; Salt Lake Telegram, May 13, 1923, amusement section, p. 1. Also see Deseret News, February 7, 1921, section 2, p. 1. *'^Deseret News, May 11, 1928, and April 9, 1955, p. 6 and p. 4B. ^'iDeseret News, May 5, 1922, section 2, p. 1. *4 Variety, February 9, 1927, p. 38. *5 Minutes of the Salt Lake Dramatic Association, December 16, 1925.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

Float of the Salt Lake local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees was probably part of a Labor Day parade. USHS collections.

But his smafl personal stock purchases had nothing to do with a desire to solidify the church's already absolute control. "We are doing this," he explained to his diary, "because we want to maintain the theater as a kind of monument and feel that widows and poor people ought not to be asked to hold this stock, especially as we could.'"^^ There was another reason for his stock buying. He wished each of his grandchildren, when marrying, to have a token $100 theatre share. Having quietly decided to retain the building as a "monument," he wished his family to share the ideal. He instructed that the stock should remain in his family's hands unless the church itself decided to give up its control.^^ As a further reflection of his mood he privately told the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, who strongly importuned that the theatre be retained, that he was no longer thinking of closing the building."^^ This of course was not the final word. Less than two years after deciding to keep the theatre, the on-again, off-again Grant once more *6Grant Manuscript Diary, February 11, 1926. â&#x20AC;˘7Grant to Lucy T. Anderson, September 8, 1926, Family Correspondence, Grant Papers. *8Grant Typed Diary, April 17, 1928; Salt Lake Tribune, April 17, 1928, p. 4.

Razing the Salt Lake Theatre

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reviewed his options. For all his support of the arts he was by no means a preservationist. Earlier he had allowed the razing of the Gardo House, Brigham Young's overbuilt Victorian mansion, and even the more historically significant Social Hall. Now with both the national theater trade and the local economy badly slumping, he wrung his hands over the theatre's balance sheet.'^^ By January 1928 dividends were no longer in question. The playhouse could not meet expenses and taxes. Six of the eleven season's productions had lost money. "It is a serious question whether we should not tear down the theater at the earliest possible date," Grant confided. "We cannot afford to go on having a loss of $100,000 capital and losing money in addition. "50 Unwilling to embroil the financially straitened church further.

President Grant pursued two options. First, he tried to get Salt Lake City to take a twenty-year lease on the building. Unless revenues exceeded expenses no payment would be expected. The commissioners quietly rejected the proposal, leaving no record of their private and potentially sensitive decision.^^ Grant's second idea was similar.

Meeting with fellow General Authorities, he recommended the organization of a civic-minded foundation to control the theatre and absorb its losses: " I suggested that I was willing to contribute several thousand dollars and thought perhaps it would be a wise thing to start with the brethren." His motion, however, received stony silence. Not one General Authority offered to follow suit.^^ Earlier, actors like Henry Miller had offered to stage a $50,000 fundraising "dramatic festival" to save the theatre, but Miller was now dead and in President Grant's mind there seemed no further options.5^ Finances were a problem, but the theatre had been carried through difficult times before. The larger problem, one suspects, lay with its moral tone, the difficulty of mixing religion and legitimate drama. Of late. Grant's protests over the theatre's programs had grown ever more strident. He left one performance apoplectic. "It is *9Even Broadway plays struggled with high ticket prices, the competition of radio, and, according to one producer, the prevalence of increasingly unpopular sex themes. " T h e majority of Americans are more moral than immoral," he claimed, " a n d right now the majority of plays are more immoral than moral." Salt Lake Tribune, December 18, 1928, pp. 1, 3.

50 Minutes of the Salt Lake Dramatic Association, January 11, 1928, and Grant Typed Diary, January 11, 1928. Grant, who constantly overstated the theatre's financial difficulty, claimed not one production had been profitable.

51 With no pertinent municipal records available, the proposal is documented in the Minutes of the Salt Lake Dramatic Association, April 5, 1928, and Grant Typed Diary, January 16, 1943.

52Grant Typed Diary, April 12, 1928. ^^Deseret News, April 26, 1922, section 2, p. 8.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

DUP president Fanny Carrington Woodruff, left, challenged Heber J. Grant, right, over the sale and proposed demolition of the Salt Lake Theatre. USHS collections.

a disgrace to the Church to be controlling any house where such shows as the one we witnessed tonight are put on the boards," he complained. " I have about made up my mind that the thing to do . . . is turn it into a picture show [movie theater] or sell it."^* The former proposal could not have been serious. While managers had allowed some cinema, the opera house configuration of the interior made the experiment unsuccessful. It was the second option that Grant pursued. First, he confidentially conveyed his decision to some of Brigham Young's descendants. Most agreed to sustain their church leader.55 But Fanny Carrington Woodruff, president of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, was absolutely intractable.^^ Her fury increased on learning that the church had disposed of the building. Without mentioning President Grant by name, an emotional DUP meeting soon after the announcement of the sale leveled '' sharp criticism" at "those who had engineered the deal" and issued a forceful statement: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers make protest against the tearing down of Utah's grand old playhouse â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Salt Lake theater. Why

5*Grant Typed Diary, October 15, 1927; also Grant to Elizabeth W. Rowberry, May 5, 1927, Letterpress Book, 65:269. ^^Salt Lake Tribune, April 16, 1928, p. 6; Grant Typed Diary, April 12, 1928.

56Woodruff to Heber J . Grant, March 8, 1928, General Correspondence.

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wasn't the public given a chance to preserve this national monument?

For years, the Daughters of Utah Pioneers have pleaded for the safety of this building, and, after receiving a letter from a controlling stockholder under date of August 5, 1926, we felt assured that this building would be preserved and that we would be given an opportunity to help preserve it. This is the oldest theater in the United States and, like the splendid old buildings of New England, should be preserved.

The Salt Lake theater is a monument to the culture and ideals of the western pioneer and should never be destroyed.^^

"Controlling stockholder" referred to President Grant. But the DUP was not content with protesting words and veiled references.

The organization announced its intention to repurchase the property from the telephone company and called on the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Utah Historical Society, and the Rotarians and Kiwanians to join its campaign. If the Salt Lake Theatre as theater were no longer feasible, at least the building could be maintained as a publicly endowed museum.^^ This petition brought a stunning announcement from the telephone company. Fearful of an entangling public controversy and perhaps for the first time now fully aware of the theatre's desperate finances, the new owners suddenly reversed their earlier assurances of continued productions and, citing the building's allegedly "unsafe condition," announced an almost immediate razing.^^ In reaction the DUP floated another idea. If the theatre could not be retained at its present location, perhaps it could be moved to another piece of property and given to Salt Lake City for civic and artistic purposes. Mayor John F. Bowman claimed to favor the proposal, though his fellow commissioners, whose votes were crucial, remained noticeably quiet.^° By early September, Woodruff and the DUP pushed the plan by engaging E. K. Pearson, a San Francisco moving contractor, to determine the project's feasibility. After an on-site inspection Pearson pronounced himself "amazed" by the structure's strength. As a result, he volunteered, if given the job, to guarantee under bond the successful removal of the building. Moving costs might run $50,000, with another $75,000 required for needed repairs and for the purchase of land.^^

^TSalt Lake Tribune, April 17, 1928, p. 4.

58 Ibid.

59Ibid., August 29, 1928, p. 18.

60Ibid., September 26, 1928, p. 26.

61 Ibid., October 3, 1928, p. 30.

82

Utah Historical Quarterly

With the immediate survival of the theatre at stake Utahns took sides and offered opinions. On one side were the self-proclaimed forces of "progress." "We want to be progressive and progressive in the right way," proclaimed one writer to the Salt Lake Tribune'^ Forum: "Where . . . [the theatre] stands is a good business corner, and the company that has bought it runs one of our most progressive, modern conveniences. We have a good many relics to make us remember the pioneers. What of our city? What more do we need?"^^ The "progressives" disparaged the old theatre building as an "eyesore," a "dirty old structure," and " a b a r n , " and claimed little sympathy for the past. " I am one of those imperturbable individuals who would grind up Plymouth rock for gravel," declared one. "Let's get rid of the old Salt Lake theatre and every other ugly old structure which stands in the way of development just as soon as we can."

Another thought Salt Lake City too beautiful to be allowed to sink under the weight of ruins and museums. Instead of placing scant resources in a fading building, the city needed an amphitheater for "bigger and better movies," rocks and asphalt for its streets, or perhaps a stadium where citizens could enjoy "the sunshine, open air and that wonderful game [of baseball] [now] nearly a century old."^^ Balancing the published letters supporting President Grant's decision, the Tribune ran others that pointedly questioned his leadership. Several complained about his money-mindedness. "Without a doubt, money is [now] our god," one protested. "True, [the theatre] . . . is valuable property. So is the 'Old South Church' in the heart of Boston." C. N. Lund, a local preservationist, was particularly insistent, arguing that a restored building would have cultural and educational value. "There is a strange charm in old things â&#x20AC;&#x201D; old books, old pictures, old buildings that have historic interest," he importuned. " T h e future will cover with praise the memory of the man who will move and restore this great landmark of the drama in the west."^* Some criticism of President Grant was surprisingly direct, given the norms of deferential Mormon society. A string of women, "heartbroken" by the sale, confronted him in his office. He was particularly

62Ibid., April 21, 1928, p. 4.

63Ibid., April 22, 1928, section 3, p. 2; April 24, 1928, p. 6; May 17, 1928, p. 6; May 25, 1928, p. 6; June 1, 1928, p. 6; June 7, 1928, p. 7; and November 4, 1928, section 3, p. 2. ('^Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 1928, p. 6; May 6, 1928, section 3, p. 2; October 11, 1928, p. 6; October 19, 1928, p. 6; and November 1, 1928, p. 6.

Razing the Salt Lake Theatre

83

stung by repeated reports that his motives were narrowly and selfishly pecuniary.^5 As a result. Grant slept fitfully and acted on occasion with obvious irritation. When one church member questioned the closure during a public meeting he angrily defended himself and his prerogatives.^^ "It is annoying to me the conversations I have to engage in about the theatre and the letters that have come from people who give litde or no thought, to the matter," he told a friend. "After my losing over thirty thousand dollars, common courtesy would suggest those who know this not to criticize my action in finally selling the theatre. "^^ From the beginning President Grant's influence had been pivotal. As the controversy continued its ebbs and flows during the summer, there was no possibility of saving the building without his approval. But at this point Grant was immovable. In his mind the public's failure to patronize its productions laid bare the cant of the preservationists' outcry. They had had their chance and had not responded. "Gratitude [and civic patriotism] is a lively sense of favors to come," he disparagingly paraphrased Victor Hugo.^^ When Hugh B. Brown, the president of the Granite Stake, sought permission to remove the theatre to his jurisdiction. Grant weighed his request but finally refused.^^ More decisive to the outcome of the controversy, he refused to encourage the blue-ribbon committee studying the possibility of relocating the theatre. Citing high costs and loss of historical integrity that such a move in his judgment would bring, Grant hoped the debate would soon die out.^° The incident was symptomatic. The Ogden Standard-Examiner wondered what might have happened had "Independence hall in Philadelphia . . . been torn down when pressure for commercial building space became strong? "^^ But none of the Salt Lake City papers followed suit, and city and state leaders were either quiet or ineffectual in support. Clearly most did not wish to challenge, at least publicly, their religious leader. By October the DUP, sensing the

65Grant Typed Diary, April 16 and 19, 1928; October 26, 1928.

66Grant Typed Diary, April 17, 1928; Lucy Grant Cannon to Heber J . Grant, June 13, 1929, General Correspondence, Grant Papers.

67 Grant to Junius Wells, April 24, 1928, General Correspondence.

68Grant to Fanny Carrington Woodruff, March 30, 1928, General Correspondence.

69 Grant Typed Diary, October 22, 1928.

70Grant Manuscript Diary, August 30, 1928, Box 142, pp. 187, 207. ^Wgden Standard-Examiner, April 17, 1928, p. 4.

84

Utah Historical Quarterly

futility of further opposition but wishing a final gesture, documented their efforts to save the theatre and retired from the contest.^^ With the theatre's fate now determined, Utahns began paying their final respects. Some wished a memento, and although the building was still being used, tiles from the lobby steadily began to disappear. The theatre's custodian stopped one man, crosscut saw in hand, intent on taking a piece of the logging that supported the main floor.

He explained he wished to make a pair of candlesticks.^^ There were public as well as private gestures. In commemoration of past activity and as a part of their 1928 political campaign, the Republicans staged an old-fashioned rally at the theatre with Senator Reed Smoot delivering a stump speech. A few days later the Democrats, also relishing a final moment, responded to Smoot's sallies in kind.^'^ A broader commemoration was held in the middle of October.

With long queues in front of the box office, ticket priority went to oldtimers who had played a role in the playhouse's history, including one man who claimed to have ridden his horse from Draper, twenty miles distant, to attend the first dedication.^^ " j ^ is like taking away a pillarâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; a prop to the stage," Sally Fisher, an old-time favorite actress, began the final program. The theatre's long-tenured orchestra conductor, George Careless, "bent with age, but Spartan in manner," received an ovation as he managed to walk the aisle and lead the orchestra. Fittingly, the audience sang a chorus of " H a r d Times."

But the bulk of the evening was given over to the second act of Robin Hood, staged by old-time favorite actors, and to the production of the third act oi La Traviata with Brigham Young's granddaughter, Emma Lucy Gates, in the lead. But the emotional highlight occurred when George D. Pyper, the theatre's manager of thirty years, bid the building and its crew adieu. "There were misty eyes," the Tribune said.^^ President Grant, who had secured sixteen tickets for the occasion, found one aspect of the occasion disturbing. Despite the fact that, in his view, he "had done more to maintain . . . [the theatre], five or ten times over, than any other living m a n , " neither he nor the church received the slightest mention. Nothing was said about his youthful water-carrying days nor his long-time and money-losing

T^Salt Lake Tribune, October 6, 1928, p. 30; 16 October 1928, p. 24.

73Ibid., October 19, 1928, p. 30.

74Ibid., October 8, 1928, p. 20.

75Ibid., September 19, 1928, p. 6; also 9, 19, and October 20, 1928, pp. 26, 30, 32.

76Ibid., October 21, 1928, p. 24; Deseret News, October 22, 1928, section 1, p. 3.

Razing the Salt Lake Theatre

85 cT^-i^f^ G-^'t'^Ti) C^^^fD

G'%^'-^^ (TW

ownership.^^ Pyper later explained why. Many in the audience were so upset over the church's conduct that he feared the slightest provocation might bring embarrassing disorder. ^^ There were some highly personal farewells to the structure.

During the final commemorative program two hundred descendants of Hiram Clawson, the theatre's general building supervisor and later its theatrical manager, had themselves filmed trooping in and out of the building. Unfortunately, the film, which included panned shots of the interior, was later destroyed by fire.^^ Phyllis Alley, a sixteenyear-old student at Salt Lake City's East High School, received permission to play a lonely recital in the building, using the violin her grandfather played during Tribute to George D. Pyper printed in the theatre's opening performsouvenir program of the Salt Lake ance sixty-six years before.^^ Theatre's final performance October 20, 1928.

USHS collections.

The theatre's very last moments were difficult for mildmannered George Pyper, who personified the dilemma facing many religiously loyal but theater-loving Mormons. The theatre had enwrapped and given meaning to much of his life, but as President Grant, his mentor and church leader, worked to close it, Pyper left no record of opposition, not even polite dissent. As the demolition progressed he slipped into the auditorium. The ornate mirrors encasing the proscenium already were gone. Many chairs were unbolted. Some were destined for a Twin Falls, Idaho, movie house; others, the old, 77 Grant Typed Diary, October 20, 1928.

78Grant Typed Diary, January 16, 1943. â&#x20AC;˘'sSalt Lake Tribune, October 29, 1928, p. 20. ^^Salt Lake Tribune, quoted in the Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Library-Archives, October 29, 1928, p. 2.

S6

Utah Historical Quarterly

red-plush seats that were almost a synonymous feature of the theatre, were earmarked for Salt Lake City's Fort Douglas Chapel. For a moment, "tired and oppressed," Pyper sank into his old seat near the box office for a moment of quiet revery. There he had for three decades watched and supervised productions. But the wrecker's hammer was insistent. He finally rose and left his playhouse for the last time.^^ Later he accompanied a Salt Lake Tribune reporter to observe the final scene. Nothing remained except a single wall that included his old office door. As the huge piece of masonry crashed in choking dust Pyper turned away with a matter-of-fact comment that concealed emotion, "Well, that's the last of my old theatre." In this, the theatre's last melodrama, others were less laconic. Tears welled in the eyes of the surrounding crowd.^^ Someone using a heavy black crayon scrawled on the tall boards surrounding the demolition an angry and ill-tempered epitaph: " B U I L T BY A P R O P H E T and T O R N DOWN FOR PROFIT! "83 The old structure proved an obdurate foe. "They don't build them that way now," said a marveling C. J. Ketchum who headed the wreckers. The large, red pine structural timbers appeared in "perfect" condition, while the building itself remained unusually tight, tied together in a "time-defying manner" with pegs and ubiquitous nails. Ketchum counted 120 nails in a single sixteen-foot, oneby-eight plank; some boards gave the appearance of being cut in two by the abundant nailing. Such workmanship, coupled with the building's bastion-like walls, made it as "solid as the day it was built" and in Ketchum's view capable of standing "for 66 more years." Faced with such an obstacle, wreckers required several more weeks to do their work than they had plannedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the most challenging task, they claimed, of their career.^^ The telephone company's plans for the site continued to change.

Instead of a promised park, the firm announced the area would be turned into a parking lot. Later this too was altered. A gas station fashioned in the form of a huge airplane was built.^^ Except for the most dogged advocate of material progress, the structure could not 81 George D. Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1937), p. 405; Salt Lake Tribune, September 15, 1928, p. 23, and November 12, 1928, p. 18. ^"^ Salt Lake Tribune, December 30, 1928, p. 26; Pyper, Romance of an Old Playhouse, rev. ed., p. 403.

83Maughan, Pioneer Theater in the Desert, p. 153. ^*Salt Lake Tribune, December 20, 1928, p. 28.

85Ibid., November 12, 1928, p. 18.

With demolition of the theatre underway in late 1928, Ketchum's sign over the center doors announced "all materials for sale. " Note Mountain States Telephone sign on extreme right. USHS collections.

have gratified anyone, least of all aesthetically. The telephone company's handsome Art Deco office building, presumably delayed by the depression, was not erected for another decade.

The playhouse was not forgotten. Six weeks after its razing. President Grant passed the old theatre corner and nostalgically looked at the empty lot. " O n e cannot regret that the old historical building could not have been preserved," he confided in a letter to his wife.^^ Throughout the episode, his official capacity, which in his view required the protection of church finance and what he defined as public morals, took precedence over personal feeling. Nor was the passion of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers spent. In 1962, one 86Grant to Augusta Grant, February 16, 1929, Letterpress Book 66:617.

Utah Historical Quarterly

88

Sah Lake Theatre boxes, proscenium, and curtain, September 22, 1917. Bill Shipler photograph, USHS collections.

hundred years after the founding of the Salt Lake Theatre, the organization dedicated their own national headquarters and museum, a buff-colored building fronted by two Grecian Doric columns, a replica of the old pioneer house of drama. Its theatre memorabilia included an early curtain, some original seats, and even a collection of the playhouse's costumes.^^ There were occasional observances at the old site. In 1940 church officials led by President Grant presided over a program of music and excerpts from the original 1862 services. A commemorative plaque was then dedicated and placed in the telephone building wall.^^ Twenty-two years later another service followed. Marking their own 100th anniversary, a Utah-German theater group decorated the plaque with flowers. "It's a pity the old theater isn't there," one member was overheard to say, "We from Germany can never understand how you can do away with such things in America. "^^ 87 Maughan, Pioneer Theater in the Desert, p. ix. ^^Salt Lake Tribune, October 6, 1940, p. 14A. s^Deseret News, March 6, 1962, p. lOA.

Sanpete Scenes: A Guide to Utah's Heart. By GARY B . PETERSON and LOWELL NION. (Eureka, Ut.: Basin Plateau Press, 1987. 145 pp. Paper, $14.95.)

For a pleasant journey through Sanpete County I suggest reading Sanpete Scenes: A Guide to Utah's Heart. It is complete enough to give an old visitor to Sanpete County enough information to keep him interested and not too detailed to discourage a new tourist. On the Scandinavians: " T h e carting of cultural baggage across an ocean and a continent created a unique collage of landscape and people in Sanpete. Eastern American and English immigrants arrived first, but they soon made up less than half the population in most settlements. A large influx of Scandinavians added a thick veneer of folk and material culture that set the place apart." " I never heard so many " s i n " names (until I came to Sanpete) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Andersons, Christensens, Jensens, Larsons, Olsens." " O n e tells of an Ephraim bishop who called on 'Brodder Peterson' for an opening prayer at church. More than a dozen stood up. T mean Brodder Pete Peterson,' he said, and several sat down, 'Oh damn, I meant . . .

(Manure) Peterson,' he clarified, and the finally identified individual strode to the pulpit."

On farming: "People and structures are dispersed across the valley and within towns. There is an agrarian feel between and even within towns, and only the college town of Ephraim, counting its students, has over 2,500 people."

C . BEN-

" T h e turkeys are so dumb, when it rains they look up and drown."

"If you walk into the bank and say 'baaa' . . . you'll get a loan."

We are even given recipes for Norsk Pannekaker (Norwegian pancakes) and Danish delight (barley beer).

Peterson and Bennion both studied geography while attending the University of Utah, so it is appropriate that we begin our journey with a "Bird's-eye View of Sanpete." We are introduced to this basin between the Wasatch and Gunnison plateaus: "Sanpete suffers from a paradox of isolation and accessibility. Just over 100 miles from Salt Lake, it is separated from the main Utah route south to California by high mountains and plateaus and by an odd 10-mile or so northeasterly setback that made it back eddy rather than mainstream. . . . " "What were the results of Sanpete's relative isolation and long-time local rivalries? No dominant town emerged, isolation extended to each town whatever its size or location, individualism flourished amidst economic hardship, and a remarkable landscape of Mormon settlement survived relatively intact until recent years." With this interesting thesis we explore the unique Sanpete landscape.

It is a delightful journey to view the architecture, the mountains, the cultural heritages of the settlers who came to this area, and most of all the individuals who reside in Sanpete County.

90 We are given a sense of their culture, their individualism, their pride, their resourcefulness, and, best of all, a sense of their humor. Peterson and Bennion have indeed given us a well researched, insightful, and sensitive view of Sanpete County. It may begin as a "Bird's-eye View of Sanpete," but it has been seen with an eagle's eye.

The historical photographs of early Sanpete are lovely and give a real impression of the early settlers and their landscape. They have been juxtaposed nicely with contemporary photographs to emphasize both positive and negative contrasts. I would also like to echo the authors and raise their question, "What kind of earth stewards have these Sanpeters been?" " A strong pride in place and the lack of same are another paradox of Sanpete. The risk to past values and places occurs whenever individuals or committees decide to 'beautify' their environs. Many an irreplaceable example of Scandinavian vernacular

Utah Historical Quarterly housing, pioneer outbuildings, and log corner notching, not to mention landmark structures, has been lost in the name of beautification. As one Sanpete gentleman with a thick volume of family and local history in hand confessed: 'I've torn down five or six buildings myself. If I'd known what history was I'd of let 'em stand.'

I hope that by recording the efforts of those who have shaped history we do not forget that our own history will be written. I hope that a photograph taken in Sanpete County in 1988 may contain a new row of trees, a wellcrafted building, some handsome animals grazing in the fields, and the faces of individuals smiling towards time.

We can journey through the images and information contained in Sanpete Scenes: A Guide to Utah's Heart as armchair tourists or use it as a catalyst for a new visit to Sanpete County.

SUE JENSEN WEEKS

Salt Lake City

The Other Utahns: A Photographic Portfolio. Edited by LESLIE T . KELEN and SANDRA FULLER. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988. xxiv + 127 pp. $24.95.)

In the summer of 1972 the Utah Historical Quarterly made an initial effort to unearth a history of Utah's ethnic minorities. This effort focused on those groups who were non-European in origin. In 1976 77!^ Peoples of Utah was published, thus making a significant contribution to the role of the state's non-Mormon population. In 1982 the Utah Endowment for the Humanities provided a grant for an "Ethnic and Minority Documentary Project." This project focused on eight communities: the Ute, Black, Jewish, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Japanese, and Mexican Hispanic. This oral history project opened vistas for u n d e r s t a n d i n g Utah's ethnic groups beyond the origi-

T.

nal expectations. From this project came The Other Utahns: A Photographic Portfolio which not only provides a complement to the oral interviews but in fact creates its own singular documentary of the people portrayed and their community cultures.

The photodocumentary effort resulted in some fourteen thousand photographs of which only one hundred and seventeen appear in this work.

However, they provide the symbols that represent the range of individuals and types of lives that exist in the various communities. In addition, the photographs provide a demographic panoply that could not be illustrated with the written medium alone.

91

Book Reviews and Notices One of the reasons that The Other Utahns makes a contribution is that ethnic minorities have been so rarely photographed in a positive manner.

Like other forms of discrimination they have either been ignored or illustrated in less than positive terms. In this work the subjects are depicted realistically, without effort to glorify or denigrate. The photographs are of contemporary Utahns, and no effort is made to depict any particular historical narrative. However, one gets a sense of history as the work illustrates generational perspectives and notes the diversity of individual accomplishments. This last aspect is important, for the work implies that the present generations are beginning, finally, to be beneficiaries of the equality promised by the civil rights movements. If anything, this work is reflective of the

new status and respect these minorities have achieved in this land.

If there is a critique that the reviewer might offer, it is that there is an unevenness in the portrayal of the groups. One quickly notices, for instance, that the only Indian group featured is the Ute, and the other tribes are missing. In the feature on Hispanics the emphasis is nearly totally on those who came directly from Mexico while those who came from New Mexico, Colorado, and California are largely ignored. This, of course, results from the limitations imposed by the original oral history interviews. But, these omissions do suggest that much more remains to be done in documenting the minority peoples of Utah.

RICHARD O . ULIBARRI

Weber State College

Mormon Polygamous Families: Life in the Principle. By JESSIE L .

University of Utah Press, 1987. xviii + 238 pp. $19.95.)

For over a century stereotypes of Mormon polygamists have existed in the minds of Mormons and nonM o r m o n s alike. For many nonMormons polygamy is probably the most widely known principle of the Mormon church even though its practice officially ceased over ninety years ago. Although polygamy was officially practiced for only a few years by a small percent of the Mormon population, an examination of the practice is essential in order to understand Mormonism historically.

In Mormon Polygamous Families Jessie Embry provides an informative view of polygamy based on interviews conducted during the 1930s, 1970s, and 1980s with husbands, wives and children who lived in Mormon polygamous households. The interviews of the 1930s were conducted by James

EMBRY.

(Salt Lake City:

Hulett and Kimball Young. Their original field notes and sources are located at the Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University.

Photocopies of these materials are now available at the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.

The rest of the oral histories were conducted by interviewers from the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University and are housed in their archives.

Embry's thesis is that we can gain a great deal of understanding about Mormon polygamous families by listening to what individuals who lived the principle have said. She weaves the interviews together with other sociological and historical studies to provide a clear and well researched book on Mormon polygamy, providing new insight into the living arrangements.

Utah Historical Quarterly

92 visiting patterns, daily lives, roles of parents and children, divorces, inheritances, and the economics of plural marriage. Her findings seem to indicate that life in polygamous families was really not so different from life in traditional families of that era.

The author's presentation of the topic is very objective. The loneliness, jealousies, trials and tribulations as well as the joys and happiness among those who lived the principle are chronicled. The book contains some nineteen tables that help the reader place much of the material in perspective. The bibliography of resources is impressive.

Embry makes extensive and generally good use of quotations from well documented oral histories. Occasionally, however, the detail of attributing exactly who said what becomes cumbersome and interrupts the narrative flow. This difficulty could have been avoided had the author simply relied on her excellent footnotes for documentation and not insisted upon attributing every quotation to a source in the body of the text.

The book is not heavily illustrated; only six photographs are included.

However, the few that are included add interest to the book and help establish the concept being emphasized in the text. A very complete index of personal names and geographic places is included. The index falls short in providing access to other subjects; however, a detailed table of contents and multiple subheadings throughout each chapter helps to compensate and can return researchers to specific details in the narrative.

The University of Utah Press, the series editor, and the author can all be very proud of this first volume of the Publications in M o r m o n Studies series. Hopefully, the forthcoming volumes will continue the same high quality scholarship. The book is a welcome addition to Mormon studies and will appeal to the general reader and the Mormon scholar as well as to the cultural anthropologist and social scientist. It is also an excellent model for scholars who want to make extensive use of oral histories.

DAVID A. HALES

University of Alaska,

Fairbanks

The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. By PATRICIA NELSON LIMERICK.

(New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1987. 396 pp. Cloth, $17.95.)

T h e basic thesis of P a t r i c i a Limerick's significant volume is encapsulated in its title and subtitle. A "legacy of conquest" is at the core of the history of the American West, affecting the history of this region so profoundly and dramatically that its effects are continuing to be felt right down to the present. Thus the author rejects a popular conception (or rather misconception) that there is "great discontinuity between the frontier and the Western present" (p. 31). In overall

terms, Limerick asserts that " t h e history of the West is a study of a place undergoing conquest and never fully escaping its consequences" (p. 26).

Limerick has done a skillful job in weaving this central theme of conquest into her general discussion of various developments affecting the West. For example, she presents western real estate speculation as an aspect of conquest and deals lucidly with the impact of conquest on various racial/ethnic minorities in terms of past and present

Book Reviews and Notices race relations. White conquest of the West, she notes with some irony, "involved peoples of every [ethnic] background" (p. 260). Also with irony.

Limerick states that participants in this process of western expansion, or conquest, cast themselves as "innocent victims" when facing adversity but in reality were, as often as not, "villains" as well as "victims." There is also irony in the author's discussion of the West's relationship with the federal government: that is, this region's dependence on heavy federal assistance at the very same time that its political spokesmen extolled the virtues of "rugged individualism." In overall terms the author places her theme of conquest within a broader context, presenting "western American history as one chapter in the global story of Europe's expansion." Limerick has expressed hope that her study of the American West will "help knit the fragmented history of the planet back together" (p. 26).

Of local interest, Limerick sees certain aspects of Utah/Mormon history as relevant to her story of conquest.

Utah as part of the larger West has, in the author's words, served as a "dumping ground" â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a development discussed with all its attendant ironies.

Thus the author presents the story of the Mormons, that is their persecutions in terms of being denied basic constitutional rights, followed by their forced migration westward to the Great Basin. Once in Utah the descendants of these same Mormons sometimes denied others the same rights that they had sought for themselves.

For example, in the wake of Japanese removal during World War II, then Gov. Herbert A. Maw, himself a Mormon, complained with supreme irony that the national government was "much too concerned about the constitutional rights of Japanese-American citizens" (p. 276).

93 More important. Limerick sees the larger Mormon experience within the context of what she describes as "the burdens of western American history." Americans generally, in looking at the history of the American West, have had a tendency to embrace an idealized or "mythical" image of the historical past while ironically being prisoners of its historical realities.

"Probably no case better represents the problem [or reality] of history in conflict with faith [or myth] than does Mormonism" (p. 324). Mormonism, according to Limerick, was founded as a religion that "naturally crystallized many of the values and attitudes of the nineteenth century," including a belief in black inferiority and a subordinate place for women. Also inherent within Mormonism was controversy concerning the nature of its origins and, of course, plural marriage. All of these issues in recent years have "come back and asked for explanation" much to to the consternation of "official Mormondom." " T h e Mormon problem," in the words of Limerick, "stood for the larger one of Western history. Celebrating one's past, one's tradition, one's heritage, is a bit like hosting a party: one wants to control the guest list tightly and, as . . . elder Boyd Packer put it, 'selectively' " (p. 330).

Limerick, perhaps in places, overstates her case and possibly goes a bit too far in completely rejecting the ideas and concepts of Frederick Jackson Turner as she develops her own synthesis to explain American western history. Nevertheless, The Legacy of Conquest is an extremely important book that deserves to be widely read, discussed, and studied by students of U t a h / M o r m o n history and of the American West generally.

NEWELL G . BRINGHURST

College of the Sequoias

94

Utah Historical Quarterly

Navajo Textiles: The William Randolph Hearst Collection. By NANCY J. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988. xiv + 257 pp. $45.00.)

One is struck at once by the extraordinary beauty of Navajo Textiles: The William Randolph Hearst Collection. Its dominant color seems to be red â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the saturated bluish red of cochineal or lac colored bayeta, the orange red of American flannel, the rosy hue of Saxony yarn, the harsh blood color of aniline. There are over 180 color photographs, each the straightforward image of a Navajo textile. Their effect is sensuous. The quality of the photography and reproduction is very high; it is possible to count weft stitches in some of the plates; texture seems palpable in all of them. Many of the textiles are so electrical with energy they seem to vibrate on the page. It would be possible to simply look at these photographs and come away from this book enriched. However, it has much more to offer.

Navajo Textiles is the catalog of the Hearst Navajo textile collection, " a remarkably complete collection of all the major types â&#x20AC;&#x201D; woven between 1800 and 1920." The Hearst textiles are now part of the holdings of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, where the author is an assistant curator.

The book is organized in three major sections. The first, "From Blanket to R u g , " contains a brief synopsis of the history of Navajo weaving.

Although this is familiar ground to any student of Navajo textiles, Nancy Blomberg's summation is clear, cohesive and crisp. She delineates a broad outline for her discussion of Navajo weaving (classic period 1650-1868, transitional period 1868-1890, rug period 1890-1920) and explains events in Navajo history that provide the rationale for these divisions: the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the tragic years of exile and incarceration at Bosque Redondo,

BLOMBERG.

the coming of the railroad, the establishment of the reservation trader system. Each of these experiences, and a thousand others, is mirrored in Navajo textiles. We are reminded again that such objects are eloquent, primary historical documents as well as wonderful works of art.

The marketing of Navajo textiles is the subject of the second chapter. Most of the 200 pieces in the Hearst collection were purchased from the Fred Harvey Company; consequently the book contains a detailed discussion about the Harvey Indian Department and its energetic manager, Herman Schweizer.

Beginning in the late nineteenth century the Harvey Company owned a series of restaurants and hotels and managed dining cars along the Santa Fe Railroad's western route. The La Fonda in Santa Fe, El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, and Alvarado in Albuquerque were all at one time Fred Harvey operations. Each was associated with an Indian room where native arts, crafts, and curios were sold to the "captive audience" traveling the rails.

"Because of Schweizer's aggressive business strategies, the Indian Department became so popular that it assumed a life of its own," Blomberg states.

Navajo Textiles reveals the astonishing reach and scope of the Indian Dep a r t m e n t ' s activities. Schweizer bought contemporary pieces and classic period textiles from traders, from other collectors, and, occasionally, directly from the weavers. Altogether, "tens of thousands of Navajo textiles passed through the doors of the Fred Harvey company in Albuquerque during the early years of the twentieth century"; many of these pieces, like those in the Hearst collection, are today the

Book Reviews and Notices foundation of important museum collections.

"From Collector to Curator" is the catalog of the Hearst collection and the heart of the book. It is organized into three sections: Blankets, Transitional Textiles, and Rugs. Scholars and weavers will enjoy the succinct and rigorous analytical description and brief historical notes accompanying each marvelous photograph; casual readers will appreciate the straightforward organizational structure.

The only thing missing from this

95 wonderful book is the weaver herself.

There is almost no discussion of the weaver at work with her flocks, her dye baths, her spindle, her loom. As usual, the focus here is on the object, the merchant, and the collector, not the native artist. Nevertheless, there are the radiant pieces of a hundred rainbow-hued webs. Perhaps, after all this time, that is the most intimate glimpse there can be.

ANN HANNIBALL

Utah Museum of Natural History

Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1840-1890. Vol. 7: 1854-1860. Edited and compiled by KENNETH L . HOLMES. (Glendale, CaliL: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1988. 295 pp. $25.00.)

This is volume seven of the now well known projected series of eleven volumes published by Arthur H. Clark and edited by Holmes. Each volume contains documents that are either unpublished or very rare from a certain time period between 1840 and 1890; readily available accounts are not included. This volume covers the years 1854-60, a period of intense activity in the rise of the feminist movement in the USA, a time for driving large herds of cattle and sheep to the Pacific Coast, and a period of road surveying and building â&#x20AC;&#x201D; themes reflected in the diaries and letters offered in this study.

Readers should note that it was the major purpose of the editor "to let the writers tell their own story in their own words with as little scholarly trimming as possible." In this the editor has succeeded almost too well. For example, no punctuation has been added, sentences do not always begin with capital letters, and it is seriously under annotated.

Basically the book is well and carefully edited. There is an introduction to the whole volume, and each document is also introduced. In particular.

great effort is devoted to identifying not only the author but all persons mentioned in the accounts. (From personal experience I know how difficult this can be.) In several instances short bibliographies are added. There are some eighty-five notes, or about an average of ten per journal. Holmes has found and printed portraits of five of the women discussed in this work.

The editor also writes that "There are numerous geographic references that are mentioned over and over again in the various accounts. The final volume in the series will include a geographical gazetteer, in addition to an index and bibliography to aid the reader," â&#x20AC;&#x201D; items that will greatly increase the value of the series. Until then, however, readers of the individual volume have to do without.

For those interested in the geography of the trails, little is offered. The gazetteer will eventually help, but no gazetteer can do the job of annotating.

Nor are there any maps in this volume, and apparently none will appear in the final volume. I urge the editor and publisher to reconsider and add maps of all the trails mentioned in this series.

Utah Historical Quarterly

96 Many readers will find this lack of geographical data a serious drawback to the series. It is as important to know where something took place as it is to know when — all things must be fixed in time and place. The various trails used in this series should be described, at least briefly.

It would be difficult to select eight diaries and five letters more varied than these. They are from seven different years, they record eastbound as wefl as westbound travel, they present different points of origin, different jumping off and terminal places.

There are widows, maidens, married women, slave holders, Mormons, fem-

inists, midwesterners, southerners, easterners, Pikes Peakers, Oregonians, and Californians.

The diaries are all excellent, well written, full of observations on the landscape (where the text cries out for annotation), Indians, other travelers (especially M o r m o n s ) , the flora, f a u n a , and c o m m u n i t i e s passed through.

Despite my complaints, this is an excellent addition to a quality series that I recommend to all students of the American West.

STANLEY B . KIMBALL

Southern Illinois University

Hoover Dam: An American Adventure. By JOSEPH E .

Oklahoma Press, 1988. x + 326 pp. $24.95.)

Hoover Dam (sometimes called Boulder Dam) is the story of the men and their families who constructed the giant dam during the Great Depression. The book's seven chapters are well written and well documented, the author utUizing a wide variety of both primary and secondary resources.

Stevens concentrates on writing about "the human dimensions of Hoover Dam's construction while not ignoring the details of engineering, machinery, and construction techniques."

Stevens begins his story in a hospital room in San Francisco's St. Francis Hospital. Here, William H. Wattis, the seventy-two-year-old president of Ogden-based Utah Construction Company and a man dying of cancer, meets with other western construction company pioneers — Harry Morrison of Boise-headquartered MorrisonKnudsen Construction Company; Charles A. Shea of J . F. Shea Company of Portland, Oregon; Charles Swigert and Philip Hart of Pordand's Pacific Bridge Company; Felix Kahn, president of MacDonald & Kahn Con-

STEVENS.

(Norman: University of

struction Company; and Warren Bechtel and Henry Kaiser representing a joint association of BechtelKaiser construction companies — to form the giant construction consortium to build the dam. It took these six large western construction companies harnessing their collective financial and human resources and their technical know-how as wefl as the work of thousands of men to build the dam. Its construction presented to Six Companies, its engineers, and construction workers new challenges because of the dam's location, its immense size, and the time of national financial difficulty.

Working under the watchful eye of construction superintendent Frank T. Crowe, workers labored under very difficult conditions and in hazardous work areas, successfufly meeting construction schedules while, during the first few months of the first summer, they and their families lived in nothing more than tents and wooden hovels.

The book is liberally sprinkled with human drama. For example, construction workers sought relief from eight

97

Book Reviews and Notices hours of often brutal work at the dam site by engaging in various games of cards. An incident is told of a worker who, having to meet the needs of nature, excused himself from a small group of gamblers to visit a nearby outhouse. He was warned to check the privy's seat for scorpions before using it. Within minutes a loud explosion was heard from the direction of the outhouse. Rushing to the scene workers saw the privy torn apart and witnessed the mucker heading for Las Vegas, his smoldering pants still bunched around his ankles. He had struck a match inside the outhouse to check the seat. The match ignited a buildup of methane gas caused by the combination of the decomposition of

human waste and the desert heat.

Hoover Dam: An American Adventure is indeed a story of adventure, a book that everyone living in the arid Southwest should read. To know and understand the work of Crowe, of Six Companies, and of the thousands of construction workers and their families is to appreciate more fully the physical beauty of the dam but, more important, the role it has in delivering to city dweller and farmer alike water and electricity. Stevens's superb book is yet another important addition to the growing collction of monographs dealing with the Colorado River.

CRAIG FULLER

Utah State Historical Society

A Great and Shining Road: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Railroad. By J O H N WILLIAMS. (New York: Times Books, 1988. ix + 341 pp. $22.50.)

Reading A Great and Shining Road: The Epic Story of the Transcontinental Rialroad is like looking at the past through an old-fashioned stereopticon viewer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a fascinating experience that leaves a very mild headache. Two separate but interwoven stories describing the inception and construction of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads are presented.

The information about the competing railroads is informative and essentially well stated. However, two completely different writing techniques are used. The account of the Central Pacific Railroad is highly detailed. The excellent portrayal of the Chinese workers will give the reader an appreciation of their contribution to the American West. The account of the Union Pacific Raflroad, in contrast, is a picture painted in the broadest of strokes. No new information has been uncovered, but the reader will benefit from a detailed account of the infra-

HOYT

structure, especially that of the Credit Mobilier.

The author has considerable writing skill. The introduction is almost lyrical. Unfortunately, there is an apparent uncertainty as to the intended audience. Whfle the book is readable by all, the railroad researcher will find gaps. Likewise, the casual reader will sometimes find himself/herself adrift, lacking necessary linkage between various phases of the story.

Geographical precision relative to the Union Pacific is an occasional problem. Some oversights are minor, such as the location of Bear River City.

Only a careful reading will reveal that this notorious "hell on wheels" was located in Wyoming.

A more troublesome point is the location of the "Big Trestle" described as being "over a gorge west of Ogden" (page 248). Two pages later we are told it was "barely a hundred yards away" from the Central Pacific's "Big Fill."

98 Both were located within a few miles of the joining point at Promontory Summit which is persistently referred to as Promontory Point. The author states he drove out to where the railroads joined (fn. page 11), so he could have been more accurate both in location and terminology.

The book's most spectacular feat is locating the Black Hills a few miles east of Cheyenne. Pages 170^ relate the story of how machinations caused an official report to state that the "eastern base of the Black Hills began six miles and a few hundred yards east of Cheye n n e . " Obviously this refers to the Laramie Range, west of Cheyenne, as the Black Hills are located a hundred and eighty-odd miles north and east in South Dakota. If the primary sources did refer to these mountains as part of the Black HiUs, the author owes the reader a footnote explaining the misleading terminology.

The" account of the 1857-58 Utah War must be based only upon outdated sources. We are told that President Buchanan and the United States

Utah Historical Quarterly Army were up against "some eighty thousand armed religious zealots," with the notation that Indian hostility had grown in proportion to the white population (page 27 and 27 fn.). The total LDS (Mormon) membership was only 80,000 in 1860. Looking at the reference cited in the footnote, one finds Bancroft's History of Utah account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre!

Since Juanita Brooks's The Mountain Meadows Massacre was published in 1950, the idea of that 1857 event's being an Indian depredation has been totally discounted.

In a nicely bound book it is unfortunate that the publisher opted to use a condensed 9 point type. Reading for an extensive period can be uncomfortable.

This is an entertaining book. The author is a clever writer, combining knowledge with wit. Once aware of the above oversights, the reader is wefl rewarded for his time and money.

MARLOWE C . ADKINS, J R .

Richmond, Utah

On Their Own: Widows and Widowhood in the American Southwest, 1848-1939. Edited by ARLENE SCADRON. (Urbana and Chicago: University of Dlinois Press, 1988. xx -i324 pp. $29.95.)

An overview of this study cannot be better stated than to quote a portion of the preface: " T h e loss of a spouse is now and, over the past few centuries, has often been a critical problem for women, but its history remains to be written. This collection of essays by twelve scholarsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and an attorney â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is designed to fill a major gap in the literature of examining significant aspects of widowhood within a specific historical context and presenting historical background for a topic that has been dominated by contemporary con-

siderations. Although this is not a conventional history book, these case studies are intended as models for using different methodological approaches and sources in writing about widowhood in the past. In addition, all of the essays included here, based on original research in primary historical sources, oral interviews, or fieldwork, offer insights into widowhood in the past and provide several building blocks toward a general history of widowhood in Ameica. An interdisciplinary study, this collection extends beyond the subject of American and

99

Book Reviews and Notices western women's history to other historical subdisciplines, including family and social history and the history of aging; it also addresses issues in women's studies, gerontology, sociology and social work, anthropology, psychology, and the law."

Case studies range from Hopi Indian culture in the mid- to late-1800s, in the city of Denver at the turn of the century, in Hispanic-Anglo Santa Fe, among the Mormons, and in Arizona pioneer society.

All the essayists commented on the limited scope of research sources available. During the inclusive time period women only rarely left written records of their personal experiences. This group of researchers relied on such sources as census records which proved to be not specific in relation to women and their status, probate records which varied widely in information provided about women, and church records which again were not always specific about the status of single women. Additionally, because until very recently the tendency of western historians has been to concentrate on men, there is little compiled material to complement primary sources.

Notwithstanding the limitations and frustrations encountered by the writers, common aspects of widowhood emerge clearly in their essays. Emotional trauma and the almost inevitable change of economic and social status characterized widowhood in all

the situations studied. As a broad generalization, problems for widows and their children were less pronounced in cultures of the extended family or where a strong church-related support system existed, and there was less disruption in their lives. This entire time period predated public economic aid for those who needed it, and help beyond the family structure was rare.

The ways in which individual women responded to widowhood varied as the individual woman varied. Some assumed a background role within the family, some continued in dominant roles where social and cultural patterns permitted, and some developed strong and successful entreprenurial talents.

In general the study is academic and impersonal. An exception is the essay by editor Scadron, "Letting Go: Bereavement among Selected Southwest Anglo Widows." Her interviews with this group contain very personal and human glimpses of women's reaction to personal loss and adjustment.

On Their Own, to reiterate the editor's suggestion, might well provide building blocks for a general history of American widowhood. In itself it is a commendable contribution to the growing body of western American history focusing on women. Its ongoing value could well be to give impetus to extended research in the same area.

KATHERINE A. HALVERSON

Cheyenne, Wyoming

100

Utah Historical Quarterly

Book Notices The Teachings of President Brigham Young.

Vol. 3: 1852-1854. Compiled and edited by FRED C . COLLIER. (Salt Lake City: Collier's Publishing Co., 1987. XXX + 498 pp. $29.95.)

Brigham Young is one of America's best known figures and is pivotal in both Mormon history and the history of Utah. He has been referred to as the Great Colonizer, the Lion of the Lord, and an American Moses. A collection of the teachings of such an important and often controversial figure would seem to be in order. This volume is the third of a projected set of six (seven, counting one to consist of a comprehensive index and tables). Like most documentary editions, this one should prove to be a valuable source for those working on early Utah history and in Mormon studies.

The scope of these volumes is limited to Brigham Young's public addresses, including those found in existing published sources, primarily the Journal of Discourses but also the Deseret News and Millennial Star. Of more significance are the previously unpublished speeches located in the Brigham Young Papers at the LDS Church Historical Department. Collier has provided a valuable service by including these unpublished speeches, collating them with those found in other published sources. These volumes include only public speeches; Young's letters and other writings are not found in this set.

The entries are arranged chronologically. Each speech is introduced in

iy^JA

the briefest way. Little historical information is found, and there are no explanatory notes. However, the volume is extensively cross-referenced, citing Brigham's other speeches as well as verses from LDS scriptures. There is also an inverted table of references, pointing from a speech or verse to the appropriate page in the book. A bibliography and an index are included.

Unlike most documentary editions, this one clearly has a thesis: that Brigham Young was a theologian and prophet as well as a great leader. The layout and organization of the book, treating it in the same manner as the LDS church treats its scriptures, is an indication of this point of view, as is the explicit statement of its purpose found in the foreword. Without any interpretive framework to bolster this argument, however, it remains with the reader to determine Brigham's

mind.

Robert S. Roeschlaub: Architect of the Emerging West, 1843-1923.

By FRANCINE FULLER, and

HABER, DAVID

KENNETH N.

R.

WETZEL.

(Denver: Colorado Historical Society, 1988. viii + 169 pp. Paper, $29.95.)

This book was inspired by the "discovery" of the original drawings and papers of Robert S. Roeschlaub, one of the principal architects in Denver during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Roeschlaub designed over 150 buildings in Denver

101

Book Reviews and Notices and other Colorado cities, but his achievements, like his drawings, were forgotten after his death.

This book illuminates Roeschlaub's significant career, addressing the details of his life, his architectural philosophy, and the buildings he designed.

His works included schools, churches, commercial buildings, public buildings, and residences. These are discussed topically in the text, which is richly illustrated with numerous photographs and reproductions of many of Roeschlaub's original drawings. Other useful features of the book are its insightful notes, bibliography, index, and chronological list of bufldings designed by Roeschlaub. After decades of obscurity, Roeschlaub and his architectural contributions are given the credit they deserve in this attractive and informative book.

Campbell's Tokens of Utah: A Rarity and Pricing Guide. By HARRY F . CAMP-

(Salt Lake City: Author, 1987.

V + 627 pp. $29.95.)

BELL.

Surely a magnum opus in its field, Campbells's Tokens of Utah, now in a new and revised third edition, contains information on some 4,000 trade tokens, currencies, and scrips used in Utah. A tireless researcher, Harry Campbell traveled thousands of miles, conducted numerous interviews, and spent countless hours pouring over old directories and newspaper microfilm to compile this reference work. Each separately listed item is a minihistory of Utah enterprise. Take, for example, the M & M, Huntington, Utah, token listed on p. 356. Campbell tells us: " M a e Klecker and Maxine Gordon operated a beer and pool room in the old meat market, located on North Main. . . . Mae Klecker was the wife of Gilbert H . Klecker who ran 'Kleck's Place,' also in Huntington. Both she

and Maxine Gordon ran this business from about 1945 until the early 1950's.

According to F. A. (Matt) Mathie, the ' M & M tokens were later used by players of the card and slough games at "Kleck's Place. . . . " ' " CampbeU also tells about early merchandising practices, token making, and other subjects of interest to collectors and historians.

The State of Deseret. By DALE L . MOR-

GAN. (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1987. xiv + 201 pp. Paper, $14.95.)

Originally published in 1940 in Utah Historical Quarterly, The State of Deseret was the first major work produced by Dale L. Morgan. As Charles S. Peterson points out in his introduction to this reprint, it also "signaled a new era in the writing of Utah history." It influenced to " a greater or lesser degree" major contributions to western historiography from such writers as Nels Anderson, Bernard DeVoto, Fawn Brodie, Juanita Brooks, Wallace Stegner, WiUiam Mulder, and others.

All that aside, however, one important fact remains: Deseret is a seminal work of history and social history. Morgan shows how Deseret indelibly stamped Utah life and institutions and how it persisted as an " Ideal in the social and political struggles of Utah for thirty years after its cause was lost." The book has been out of print for too long.

USU Press is to be commended for making it available in an attractive paperback.

Weber County Is Worth Knowing. By WILLIAM W . TERRY. ([Ogden,

Author, $20.00.)

1987.] v

Ut.:

+ 387 p p .

Bill Terry's county history was compiled and written with the needs and

Utah Historical Quarterly

102 interests of Weber County teachers and students in mind. It began as an idea in 1975 when he was involved in planning programs for the bicentennial. Over the years he enlarged his manuscript and, working with teachers on ways to make it useful as a curriculum aid, produced the present volume, which has been donated to the Weber schools. But Terry's work will be of great interest to those outside the school system. Arranged topically, the twenty chapters contain a wealth of detail on such subjects as brickmaking, canneries, theaters, forts, etc., that is hard to find in any other single source.

The Navajo Atlas: Environments, Resources, Peoples, and History of the Dine Bikeyah. By JAMES M .

serviceable, but one appreciates the twelve color plates as an identification aid and for the aesthetic enjoyment of such beauties as the golden and cutthroat trout. By no means exclusively biological in its focus. Fishes contains humanistic elements as well, as in its sketch of the history of fishing in the Great Basin, its extensive consideration of the problem of endangered species, and especially its philosophical chapter on the "Unique Ways of Fish and Why We Study T h e m . "

High Noon in Lincoln: Violence on the Western Frontier. By ROBERT M .

UTLEY. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987. xiii -t- 265 pp. $22.50.)

GOODMAN.

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. 120 pp. Cloth, $24.50; paper, $12.95.)

The Navajo Atlas contains 48 maps, numerous graphs, and a wealth of data on landforms, geology, climate, vegetation, mineral resources, demographics, economic resources, and social services. Students and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines will find it useful as will general readers with an interest in the Southwest and Indian land use and resources.

Fishes of the Great Basin: A Natural His-

Greed and lust for power combined with lack of courage and intelligence in public officials were the causes of New Mexico's infamous Lincoln County War of the late 1870s, according to Utley's detailed study of the episode. Utley gives a thorough account of the social and economic basis of what he calls a "war without heroes" in which civilized institutions almost completely broke down; law enforcement officials, the court system, and even the United States Army became the instruments of partisan factions; and the murderous guns of Billy the Kid and his partners blazed without restraint.

tory. By WILLIAM F . SIGLER and J O H N

W. SIGLER. (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1987. xviii -i- 425 pp. $32.50.)

The Comanches: Lords of the South Plains.

By ERNEST WALLACE and

E. ADAM-

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986. xix -i- 381 pp. Paper, $10.95.)

SON HOEBEL.

The latest installment in the Great Basin Natural History Series, Fishes is a handsomely designed and scientifically solid reference guide for "fishermen, naturalists, ichthyologists, fishery biologists, pet owners, and people who just want to know about fish."

The black and white illustrations are

Now in its ninth printing. The Comanches, originally published in 1952, remains one of the University of Oklahoma Press's staples in no small part because historian Wallace and anthro-

103

Book Reviews and Notices pologist Hoebel managed to portray the Comanches' way of life in a way that satisfied both scholar and general reader. They present the sweep of Comanche life, from the buffalo hunt to the war party to the daily life of a teepee village, "without romanticizing, but with understanding and detachment." It is the story of a "people perfectly adapted to their environment, loving their life and their wild land and sky."

Anchored Lariats on the San Juan Frontier.

By

NORMA

PERKINS

YOUNG.

(Provo: Community Press, 1985. xviU + 418 pp. Paper, $11.95.)

Dan Perkins, a prominent cattleman and community leader in Monticello, seemed to his daughter to embody in his life so much of the history of San Juan County that she wrote this history of the county around his biography. The volume is rich in historical detail, not only in its accounts of such celebrated and colorful episodes as the Hole-in-the-Rock expedition and the Posey War, but also in the more mundane aspects of economic, social, and cultural development. It is, too, a celebration of the solid virtues and integrity of the San Juan pioneers, whose lives were as straight as a lariat stretched tightly between two anchor points in the San J u a n slickrock.

Handbook for Research in American History: A Guide to Bibliographies and Other Reference Works. By FRANCIS PAUL PRUCHA. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987. xxiii + 289 pp. Cloth, $21.95; paper, $9.95.)

Since the beginning of professional historiography in this country in the late nineteenth century, the literature

of American history has grown in geometric proportions, rendering guides such as this one increasingly necessary for anyone who would hope to master even a small part of it. Written with the needs of the beginning graduate student in mind, Prucha's guide is clearly organized, easy to use, and ought to be a handy companion for anyone â&#x20AC;&#x201D; amateur or professionalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; who aspires to write history. Beginning with standard reference guides to libraries, periodicals, and manuscript collections, Prucha then devotes chapters to the guides to the literature of such fields as military, economic, social, and political history. A sign of the times is his attention to such presently popular fields as the history of women, blacks, and other ethnic groups, as well as his survey of oral history materials, state and local history, and computer data bases. Prucha is, of course, a prominent western historian, and his descriptions of the literature on the American Indian (his own field) and of western history in general are especially valuable.

Jessie Benton Fremont: A Biography. By PAMELA H E R R . (New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1987. xvi + 496 pp.

Cloth, $24.95. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. xvi -i- 496 pp. Paper, $14.95.)

The life of Jessie Benton Fremont from the perspective of a twentiethcentury feminist is the theme of this impressively researched runner-up for the 1987 Evans Biography Award. She was, the author claims, " a heroine too spirited for her age, too gifted to be readily contained within the narrow image of proper Victorian womanhood," and " a n activist cast in a supporting role, living through a man the part she might have played herself.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION

The Utah Historical Quarterly (ISSN 0042-143X) is published quarterly by the Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84101. The editor is Max J. Evans and the managing editor is Stanford J. Layton with offices at the same address as the publisher. The magazine is owned by the Utah State Historical Society, and no individual or company owns or holds any bonds, mortgages, or other securities of the Society or its magazine.

The following figures are the average number of copies of each issue during the preceding twelve months: 3,565 copies printed; 62 paid circulation; 2,571 piail subscriptions; 2,633 total paid circulation; 314 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 2,947 total distribution; 618 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 3,565.

The following figures are the actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 3,602 copies printed; 4 paid circulation; 2,446 mail subscriptions; 2,450 total paid circulation; 381 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 2,831 total distribution; 771 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total, 3,602.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History BOARD OF STATE HISTORY THOMAS G. ALEXANDER, Provo, 1990 Chairman L E O N A R D J . A R R I N G T O N , Salt Lake City, 1989 Vice-Chairman M A X J . EVANS, Salt Lake City Secretary DOUGLAS D . ALDER, St. George, 1989 PHILLIP A. BULLEN, Salt Lake City, 1990 ELLEN G . CALLISTER, Salt Lake City, 1989 J . ELDON DORMAN, Price, 1990 HUGH C . GARNER, Salt Lake City, 1989 DAN E . JONES, Salt Lake City, 1989 DEAN L . MAY, Salt Lake City, 1990 AMY ALLEN PRICE, Salt Lake City, 1989 SUNNY REDD, Monticello, 1990

ADMINISTRATION M A X J . EVANS, Di'w/or J A Y M . H A Y M O N D , Librarian STANFORD J . LAYTON, Managing Editor WILSON G . M A R T I N , Preservation Manager D A V I D B . M A D S E N , State Archaeologist P H I L L I P F . N O T A R I A N N I , Museum Services Coordinator J A M E S L . D Y K M A N , Administrative Services Coordinator T h e U t a h State Historical Society was organized in 1897 by public-spirited U t a h n s to collect, preserve, a n d publish U t a h a n d related history. T o d a y , u n d e r state sponsorship, the Society fulfills its obligations by publishing the Utah Historical Quarterly and other historical materials: collecting historic Utah artifacts; locating, documenting, a n d preserving historic a n d prehistoric buildings a n d sites; a n d maintaining a specialized research library. Donations and gifts to the Society's programs, m u s e u m , or its library are encouraged, for only through such means can it live u p to its responsibility of preserving the record of U t a h ' s past.

This publication has been funded with the assistance of a matching grant-in-aid from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under provisions of the NationEil Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended.

This program receives financieil assistance for identification and preservation of historic properties under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.