Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, Number 1, 1996

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UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY (ISSN 0042-143X)

EDITORIAL STAFF MAX J. EVANS, Editor STANFORD J. LAYTON, MIRIAM B. MURPHY,

Managing Editor Associate Editor

ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS MAUREEN URSENBACH BEECHER,

Salt Lake City, 1997

JANICE P. DAWSON, Layton, 1996 AUDREY M. GODFREY, Logan, 1997 JOEL C. JANETSKI, Provo, 1997

ROBERT S. MCPHERSON, Blanding, 1998 ANTONETTE CHAMBERS NOBLE, Cora, WY, 1996 GENE A. SESSIONS, Ogden,1998 GARY TOPPING, Salt Lake City, 1996

Richard S. Van Wagoner, Lehi, 1998

Utah Historical Quarterly was established in 1928 to publish articles, documents, and reviews contributing to knowledge of Utah'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) 533-3500 for membership and publications information. Members of the Society receive the Quarterly, Beehive History, a n d the bimonthly Newsletter upon p a y m e n t of t h e a n n u a l dues: individual, $20.00; institution, $20.00; student a n d senior citizen (age sixty-five or over), $15.00; contributing, $25.00; sustaining, $35.00; patron, $50.00; business, $100.00.

Materials for publication should be submitted in duplicate, typed double-space, with footnotes at the end. Authors are encouraged to submit material in a computer-readable form, on 514 or 3V4 inch MS-DOS or PC-DOS diskettes, standard ASCII text file. For additional information on requirements contact the managing editor. Articles represent the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Utah State Historical Society.

S e c o n d class postage is paid at Salt Lake City, U t a h .

Postmaster: S e n d f o r m 3579 ( c h a n g e of a d d r e s s ) to Utah Historical Quarterly, 300 Rio G r a n d e , Salt Lake City, U t a h 84101.

HISTORICAL tlUARTERLr

Contents WINTER 1996 \ VOLUME 64 \ NUMBER 1

IN THIS ISSUE

3

UTAH'S SILVER QUEEN AND THE "ERA OF THE GREAT SPLURGE"

JUDYDYKMAN

4

HOSPITALITY AND GULLIBILITY: A MAGICIAN'S VIEW OF UTAH'S MORMONS THE DENIS JULIEN INSCRIPTIONS

DAVID L. ZOLMAN, SR.

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JAMES H. KNIPMEYER

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UTAH'S CHINATOWNS: THE DEVELOPMENT AND DECLINE OF EXTINCT ETHNIC ENCLAVES

DANIEL LIESTMAN

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BOOK REVIEWS

96

BOOK NOTICES

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THE COVER Susanna Emery Holmes, Utah's Silver Queen, was known for her wealth, fashion, and flair.

Photograph is from the Gardo House album in USHS collections.

© Copyright 1996 Utah State Historical Society

Books reviewed WILLIAM WYCKOFF a n d LARY M. DILSAVER,

eels. The Mountainous West: Explorations in Historical Geography LOWELL C. "BEN" BENNION

Race and Labor in Western Copper: The Fight for Equality, 1896-1918 . PHILIP F. NOTARIANNI

96

PHILIP J. MELLINGER.

PAUL

97

W. HIRT. A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management of the National Forests since World War Two . BRIAN Q. CANNON 99 Linoleum, Better Babies, and the Modern Farm Woman, 1890-1930 J o A N N RUCKMAN 100

MARILYN IRVIN HOLT.

Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers: Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail ALEXIS KELNER 101

PAUL SCHULLERY.

ZEESE PAPANIKOLAS.

of Dreams

Trickster in the Land RUSSELL BURROWS

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Oakwood, the Silver Queen's summer home in Holladay. Her brother and sister, John and Nellie Bransford, are sitting on the porch.

Courtesy of Harold Lamb.

In this issue Few personalities in Utah history have held m o r e fascination for historians, have created a greater body of lore, or have eluded a biography longer t h a n S u s a n n a Bransford E m e r y H o l m e s . Known familiarly as t h e Silver Queen, she was a classic rags-to-riches persona during a time when that theme dominated U.S. popular literature. Flamboyant, mercurial, and strong-willed, she r o d e h e r Park City wealth to e n t r e e i n t o t h e u p p e r crust of U t a h , California, New York, and European society, leaving behind a confusing welter of legends, rumors, and suppositions that has never ceased to scintillate the popular imagination. T h e first selection, based on an exhaustive search of probate and other original sources, tells her amazing story and places her within a larger historiographical context than she has ever known before.

T h e next two articles also deal with personalities, though of a m u c h different sort. Denis J u l i e n was a solitary a n d enigmatic figure—a m o u n t a i n m a n who e x p l o r e d the l e n g t h a n d b r e a d t h of U t a h ' s pre-territorial landscape. Typical of his type, h e left virtually n o written record of his comings a n d goings. Yet, his fewjottings—autographs on rock—have teased travelers a n d historians ever since. In contrast, George Anton Zamloch d r u m m e d his way through Utah with great fanfare, seeking to mystify people in a different way—with feats of magic. His personal reminiscence, p e n n e d years later a n d just recently discovered, is almost as astonishing as his sleight of h a n d must have seemed. T h e excerpts featured here promise to delight a n d entertain just as m u c h as his stage show did m o r e than a century ago.

T h e final piece illuminates the history of o n e of Utah's oldest ethnic groups, the Chinese. Creating their distinctive enclaves within a half-dozen counties, these energetic immigrants n u r t u r e d hopes a n d p u r s u e d dreams within a frequently hostile social environment. T h o u g h Utah's Chinatowns have long since disappeared, their colorful legacies remain to enrich a n d enliven o u r cultural heritage.

This photo of the Silver Queen reveals her beauty. USHS collections.

Utah's Silver Queen and the "Era of the Great Splurge" BYJUDYDYKMAN

Mrs. Dykman is a history teacher at Churchill Junior High School in Salt Lake City.

Utah's Silver Queen

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E g e r a Bransford E m e r y H o l m e s Delitch Engalitcheff was o n e of America's most colorful a n d unconv e n t i o n a l millionaires, a n d h e r lifestyle frequently m i r r o r e d t h e excesses of an era. As a child she j o u r n e y e d to California in a covered wagon; as a t e e n a g e r she survived a stagecoach h o l d u p ; a n d as an adult, she traveled a r o u n d the world four times a n d lived in a palace.

Married four times, she outlived all of h e r husbands even though two of the m e n were many years younger. She m e t kings, queens, presidents and statesmen, conferred with a pope and conversed with Hitler and Mussolini. Affectionately known as Susie to h e r family and friends and as Utah's Silver Queen to the press, she was loved by some and vilified by others. For decades h e r social activities, travels, a n d personal tragedies made headlines. At the turn of the century some speculated that h e r shares in Park City's fabulous Silver King Mine m a d e h e r one of the wealthiest women in Utah, if not the United States. Because of this extensive press coverage many have mistakenly assumed that h e r life r e s e m b l e d an u p d a t e d version of t h e C i n d e r e l l a fairy tale.

Recently, two authors have even c o m p a r e d h e r to Princess Diana or Elizabeth Taylor, while others have accused h e r of being cold hearted or indifferent to the needs of h e r daughter, u n k i n d to h e r husbands, a n d foolish with h e r money. Extensive research shows that many stories about h e r are exaggerations or misrepresentations. In reality she was typical of the cosmopolites of the "Gilded Age" who h a d different values a n d p e r c e p t i o n s t h a n the average A m e r i c a n . W h o t h e n was Susie a n d which stories a b o u t h e r life a n d adventures are true a n d which are merely entertaining folklore? 1 HER

ROYAL H I G H N E S S SUSANNA

T h e second of four surviving children in the Milford a n d Sara Ellen Bransford family, Susie was b o r n May 6, 1859, in R i c h m o n d , Missouri. Prior to the Civil War h e r parents owned seventy acres of land, several slaves, and a general store. W h e n the war broke out h e r father served as a captain in the C o n f e d e r a t e Army. Following his release from a prison camp he r e t u r n e d to Missouri to check on his young family a n d found them impoverished. H o p i n g for a fresh start, several Bransford families in the Richmond area j o i n e d a wagon train 1 "Utah's Own Silver Queen Arrives for Summer Visit in Salt Lake City," Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 1938, p. 12; "Susanna Emery-Holmes," Biographical Record of Salt Lake City and Vicinity (Chicago: National Historic Record Company, 1902), pp. 211-12; Margaret Godfrey, "The Silver Queen," Salt Lake City, September-Octoher 1993, pp. 33-34; unidentified article in Susie's scrapbook archived in the Utah State Historical Society's Library, Salt Lake City.

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b o u n d for the gold fields. Six m o n t h s later they settled in a n u m b e r of n o r t h e r n California mining communities such as Crescent Mill.2 Five-year-old Susie a n d h e r o l d e r b r o t h e r , J o h n , a t t e n d e d the town's small grammar school; later, their father enrolled them in San Francisco boarding schools. During o n e of her stagecoach trips to or from Taylorsville, where the family now lived, Susie was involved in a robbery. When the bandits recognized h e r among the passengers they assured h e r that they would not h a r m her, but sixteen-year-old Susie never forgot the ordeal. Possibly the bandits were neighbors of the Bransfords or l u m b e r m e n or miners as the m e n knew h e r name. 3 As she entered adulthood, Susie blossomed into a very attractive young woman with expressive eyes, flawless skin, a trim figure, a n d long brown hair. At five feet seven inches she was taller t h a n many w o m e n of h e r day. H e r fun-loving personality, self-confidence, a n d "gift of gab" enabled h e r to mingle easily with others. She a t t e n d e d m a n y parties a n d social functions a n d was a c h a r t e r m e m b e r of a Taylorsville, California, girls club, Rescue Lodge #215, organized in 1877. As o n e a d m i r e r p u t it, she became "the belle of Plumas." T h e autograph book she kept prior to leaving California includes several romantic entries from numerous suitors and admirers, but she refused all of them. 4 D u r i n g the early 1880s Susie traveled extensively in n o r t h e r n California. It appears she traveled alone, moved to San Francisco a n d the Oakland area for five months, and then r e t u r n e d to Crescent Mill and Taylorsville where she had family. By the summer of 1884 she had arrived in Park City, Utah, to visit relatives or friends a n d find work.

Little information exists about this stage of h e r life, but an article in Plumas Memories reports she supported herself by working as a seamstress a n d hairdresser during h e r twenties. Interestingly, when a New York Herald j o u r n a l i s t referred to h e r in 1902 as a former h a t m a k e r - Milford Bransford's Bible, courtesy of Dr. Harold Lamb, Sr., Salt Lake City; John A. Shiver, Bransford Family History (Kentucky: McDowell Publishing Company, 1981), p. 35; see also Sara Cooper's undated will, probated in Lexington, Kentucky, copy in possession of Dr. Lamb; "Crossing the Plains," a history of the Bransford trip to California, an unpublished account provided by Stella Enge (no author or date); "Milford Bransford," Park Record, May 25, 1894; "Milford Bransford Deceased," Plumas Independent (California), May 26, 1894.

3 "Utah's Own Silver Queen Arrives for Summer"; John Bransford Biographical Sketch, courtesy of Vadney Murray, Quincy, California; interviews with Susanna Hartman, Susie's niece, Laguna Hills, California; interviews with Jean Murray of Quincy, California. All interviews cited herein were conducted by the author and are in her possession.

4 Plumas County Historical Society, #26 (n.p. ,n.d.), p. 6; additional information found in unidentified news articles in Susie's scrapbook; Plumas Independent, May 26, 1894; magazine article from Elite in Susie's scrapbook; "from T.M.J.," an entry in Susie's autograph book, 1879-86, in the author's possession.

Utah's Silver Queen

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a n d seamstress in o n e of Park City's stores, Susie f u m e d b u t saved t h e article in h e r scrapb o o k . By 1902 she d e s p e r a t e l y wanted to be accepted into easte r n social circles; t h e article a n g e r e d h e r because it claimed c o m m o n l a b o r e r s lacked t h e breeding to be society leaders. 5 Susie was twenty-five w h e n she m e t Albion Emery, the handsome, likable postmaster of Park City. S o m e t h i r t e e n years older, he was an intelligent a n d a m b i t i o u s m a n from a New England background. His numerous Masonic contacts a n d political activities suggest that he was Albion Emery. USHS collections. destined for greater things. After a brief courtship the couple was married in O g d e n on November 11, 1884, by J u d g e T. H. Emerson. They rented a small house in Park City from a Mr. Gulliver a n d later p u r c h a s e d a h o m e at 721 Woodside Avenue that was destroyed in the town's 1898 fire.

Eager to earn a fortune and make a n a m e for himself, Albion left the post office to work for the Daly Mining Company as a bookkeeper.

H e also won a seat in the Utah Territorial Legislature a n d devoted many hours to Masonic activities. During the first years of their marriage Susie helped him to raise $8,000 to invest in the Mayflower Mine by arranging a loan from a family friend, R. C. Chambers. H e r father had grubstaked him many years earlier when b o t h lived in Plumas County.11 Meantime, Milford's family prospered in Plumas County for several years. With a partner, he operated a general store in Taylorsville, dabbled in two quartz mining operations, held several offices in local 5 Article in Susie's scrapbook; Susie's a u t o g r a p h book; O. N. Malmquist, The First One Hundred Years: A History of the Salt Lake Tribune, 1871-1971 (Salt Lake City: U t a h State Historical Society, 1971), p p .

2 1 1 - 1 3 ; Margaret Lester, Brigham Street (Salt Lake City: Utah Historical Society, 1979), p p . 110-20; Raye C. R i n g h o l z , Diggings and Doings in Park City (Park City: a u t h o r , 1983), p p . 6 0 - 6 4 ; J a n e R o g e r s , "Rogers Family History," Plumas Memories 51 ( J u n e 1986): 27.

6 Raye Ringholz to author, July 1993; "Personal Mention," Park Record, N o v e m b e r 15, 1884; "Albion Emery," Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine (1902): 5 0 2 - 3 ; interview with Alan Sprigg, S u m m i t C o u n t y recorder, July 1993; Malmquist, The First One Hundred Years, p p . 2 1 1 - 1 3 .

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g o v e r n m e n t , ran a stage line, a n d o p e r a t e d a b o a r d i n g h o u s e . His many business ventures may have overextended his credit as h e was sued for i n d e b t e d n e s s in 1879 b y j . D. Goodwin a n d in 1880 b y j .

McKinney. As his properties a n d opportunities began to dwindle, stories of fabulous silver strikes in U t a h ' s m o u n t a i n s attracted Milford a n d his family to Park City. In 1887 they m i g r a t e d to U t a h a n d h e became the bookkeeper for the Ontario Mine a n d j o i n e d Park City's Masonic lodge.

Several myths s u r r o u n d Susie's children. T h e Emerys were childless for three years until Susie's younger sister, Viola, died in 1887. To help h e r aged m o t h e r a n d brother-in-law, Willis Lamb, Susie volunteered to raise h e r sister's infant son, Harold Vernon Lamb. Two years later, in 1889, the Emerys a d o p t e d a two-year-old girl from a Boston o r p h a n a g e . O n e a c c o u n t suggested t h a t Louise Grace was actually Albion's illegitimate child. A n o t h e r source speculated that the baby was t h e u n w a n t e d child of a Park City p r o s t i t u t e . No o n e knows Grace's parentage; a Boston policeman found h e r on a d o o r s t e p in May 1886, took h e r to a nearby o r p h a n a g e , a n d gave h e r the n a m e of Louise Radford, using his own surname. While the Emerys were visiting o n e of Albion's sisters in the Boston area, the girl came to Susie's attention. Disappointed at n o t having a child of h e r own, Susie persuaded Albion to a d o p t the girl. 7 In time t h e E m e r y s ' f o r t u n e dramatically c h a n g e d as t h e Mayflower Mine b e g a n to pay large dividends. Albion a n d his new partnersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;David Keith, T h o m a s Kearns, J o h n J u d g e , and W. V Riceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; used the mine's early profits to p u r c h a s e all of Park City's Treasure Hill. T h e n in 1892 Albion a n d his associates organized the Silver King Mining Company. 8 Newly rich, Susie a n d Albion radically c h a n g e d their lifestyle, purchasing fine clothes a n d o t h e r luxuries a n d traveling extensively. Like o t h e r Parkites, they also purchased a large h o m e in a prestigious Salt Lake City n e i g h b o r h o o d : 352 East 100 South, a block south of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Albion's prestige grew, and just before his death in 1894 he was elected Speaker of the House in Utah's Territorial Legislature a n d b e c a m e the Worshipful G r a n d 7 Interview with Dr. Harold Lamb, Sr.; Wallace Bransford affidavit, p. 2, Probate Hearing for Louise Grace Emery Bransford, #9027, 3d Circuit Court, 3d Judicial District, September 17, 1918, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City; interview with Floralie Millsaps, Salt Lake City, longtime tour guide for the Utah Heritage Foundation; Park Record, May 25, 1894, Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 61; Bransford file, Plumas County Museum.

8 "Men and Events Linked with Great Mines of Park City," Park Record, June 5, 1931; George A. Thompson and Fraser Buck, Treasure Mountain Home (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, 1981), p. 83.

Utah's Silver Queen Master of Salt Lake City's Masonic Lodge. 9 Grace a n d H a r o l d , w h o h a d a t t e n d e d Park City's small g r a m m a r school, s o o n were e n r o l l e d in Rowland Hall in Salt Lake City, fashionably attired, a n d gifted with everyt h i n g m o n e y c o u l d buy. G r a c e , a small, frail, quiet child, did n o t excel in school a n d c l u n g to h e r m o t h e r .

Before t h e E m e r y s b e g a n to travel, Susie s p e n t time with h e r two small charges a n d carefully supervised their daily activities. Later, however, she h i r e d a governess. H a r o l d did n o t The Emerys' adopted daughter Grace. seem to mind; he could visit his father Courtesy of Stella Inge. who h a d m a r r i e d a second time a n d lived in Salt Lake City. But Grace b r o o d e d when h e r parents left h e r with the servants.

Albion's h e a l t h b e g a n to fail in March 1894. Chest pains a n d c o u g h i n g spells m a d e sleeping difficult. O n his doctor's advice, he took Susie a n d h e r sister Nellie to California a n d Hawaii for two months. W h e n they r e t u r n e d to California he collapsed a n d was confined to b e d in San Francisco's Bella Vista Hotel. A b o u t five weeks later, on J u n e 13, 1894, he died of liver and heart failure at the age of forty-eight. Apparently he was an alcoholic; nearly four dozen bottles of liquor a n d club soda were charged to his bill d u r i n g his five-week stay. Possibly the liquor served as an anesthetic during his final hours.

A recent magazine article suggested that Albion died in the arms of a n o t h e r woman, but that is not true. Susie and Nellie were with him when he died, a n d Susie, who had b e e n at his side for several weeks, tenderly closed his eyes when death finally came. 10 Susie was overwhelmed with grief and stress the summer and fall of 1894, for her father had died of a pneumonia-like illness just three weeks before Albion's death. The loss of these two beloved men and, later, the 9 "Honorable A. B. Emery" (editorial) and "Death of Honorable A. B. Emery," Park Record, June 16, 1894; Thompson and Buck, Treasure Mountain Home, pp. 83-84; Millsaps interview; Polk's Sail Lake City Directory, 1894.

1,1 Park Record, June 16, 1894; "Brother Albion B. Emery," Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Utah, 1895, Utah Masonic Lodge, Salt Lake City, pp. 95-98; Albion Emery, Probate Case #102, Summit County records; Godfrey, "The Silver Queen," pp. 33-34; Thompson and Buck, Treasure Mountain Home, pp.

83â&#x20AC;&#x201D;84; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 61; Wallace Bransford affidavit, pp. 2-3.

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death of her mother in 1905, had a major impact on the rest of her life.

Thereafter, she avoided funerals, even those of close family members.

Albion's death also devastated eight-year-old Grace who had been very close to him. She experienced a series of illnesses and emotional problems.

Of Susie's four marriages, this u n i o n seems to have provided the happiest relationship. During their ten-year marriage Albion wrote h e r several touching notes that illustrate how m u c h he loved h e r and valued their relationship. His attitudes and tastes also appear to have profoundly influenced h e r view of life. H e wrote this verse in her autograph book in 1884: "My friend-/Life is too short for any vain regretting;/Let dead delight bury its dead I say./And let us go u p o n our way forgetting/The joys, a n d sorrows, of each yesterday." W h e n she later followed this advice, some perceived h e r as uncaring and cold.

With the help of Albion's friends, Susie arranged an impressive viewing a n d Masonic funeral in Salt Lake City's C o n g r e g a t i o n a l church. A chartered m o u r n e r s ' train b r o u g h t people from Park City.

Emery was buried in M o u n t Olivet Cemetery."

Fortunately, Albion had a $12,500 insurance policy that took care of h e r financial needs until his estate was settled. Unfortunately, he died intestate, drawing Susie into a bitter court battle over his assets.

Just as the probate process was nearing an end, R. C. Chambers, superintendent of the Ontario Mine, stunned Susie and Park City's populace by suing her for $176,000 or half of the estate. H e claimed he had lent Albion the money he had invested in the Mayflower (Silver King) Mine with the u n d e r s t a n d i n g that the two m e n would split the profits a n d stocks. Before his death Albion had paid Chambers $20,000, but he felt entitled to more. T h e alleged verbal agreement was not witnessed or r e c o r d e d . Susie, on the o t h e r h a n d , p r o d u c e d cancelled checks to prove Albion had repaid the $8,000 loan with interest. H e r astute attorney, knowing that Chambers h a d denied any claim to the Silver King properties in the on-going Northland-Mayflower trial, asked if he had previously lied u n d e r oath. Possibly fearing legal repercussions in the Northland-Mayflower case, C h a m b e r s said n o . T h e j u d g e r u l e d in Susie's favor, but several weeks later Chambers's attorneys appealed to the Utah Supreme Court to overturn the verdict. They felt their client h a d b e e n tricked i n t o d e n y i n g his interest in the m i n e . T h e y also believed critical evidence a b o u t Albion's oral a g r e e m e n t with " Plumas Independent, May 26, 1894; Hartman interviews; Park Record, June 16, 1894; "Mrs. Holmes Takes Stand as Witness," Salt Lake Tribune, October 3, 1918; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 62.

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C h a m b e r s h a d b e e n wrongly ruled inadmissible. After several weeks of deliberation the justices r u l e d in Susie's favor. U n d e r Utah probate law she and Grace equally shared Albion's assets.

Years later several e a s t e r n newspapers reported that Susie's estate in 1900, five years after the trial, was valued at $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 b e c a u s e they believed she h a d i n h e r i t e d 150,000 shares of Ontario stock.

No O n t a r i o stock is m e n t i o n e d in Albion's probate papers. T h e Silver King Mine may have been valued at $50,000,000 by 1900, b u t Susie was only o n e of t h e original six owners. T h e stock Susie's brother, John Bransford, managed her h a d split several times since financial affairs for many years. USHS collections.

1892, a n d t h e r e were m o r e investors. It appears that h e r assets in 1895 probably a m o u n t e d to only $350,000 when $3,234 in cash, $13,972 in promissory notes, a n d the Salt Lake City residence were a d d e d to the stocks in Albion's portfolioâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not the many millions some have claimed. 12 Susie's beauty a n d c h a r m attracted the attention of many m e n during h e r widowhood, for she was still a beautiful b r u n e t t e with the quick wit and intellect of a good conversationalist. She also impressed people with h e r i n d e p e n d e n t spirit a n d by capably handling h e r own m o n e y a n d investments. S o m e t i m e in 1895 h e r business p a r t n e r T h o m a s Kearns i n t r o d u c e d h e r to a wealthy Chicago businessman, Col. Edwin F. Holmes, whose lumber leases in Idaho, shipping investments in the Great Lakes area, a n d stock in the A n c h o r Mine were w o r t h a p p r o x i m a t e l y $8,000,000. F o u r t e e n years Susie's senior, H o l m e s h a d b e e n widowed in 1894 also. H e would actively p u r s u e Susie during the next four years. 13 '- Emery Probate Records; Thompson and Buck, Treasure Mountain Home, pp. 84, 79; "For a Fortune," Park Record, September 1894; Park Record, June 5, 1931; "Chambers vs. Emery," Pacific Reporter, 45: 192-200; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, pp. 61-63.

13 Elite article in Susie's scrapbook; Lester, Brigham Street, p. I l l ; "Mrs. Emery Comes Here to Wed," unidentified article from Stella Inge that describes Holmes, now in author's possession.

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In the meantime, Susie became c o n c e r n e d about Grace's education. T h e girl was frequently absent from school because of illness or emotional problems. H o p i n g to improve the situation, she enrolled h e r in a prestigious San Francisco b o a r d i n g school in 1898. Susie moved into a hotel a p a r t m e n t nearby b u t insisted that Grace live in the school dormitory. This forced separation from h e r m o t h e r made the girl hysterical. During o n e of these tearful sessions Grace met h e r first cousin Wallace Bransford, J o h n ' s only son, who was attending the University of California in Berkeley. H e a r r a n g e d for Grace to stay with his family in Quincy, California, for a few months. Susie was grateful. Colonel Holmes was courting her, a n d she did not have the time or energy to deal with Grace's possessiveness and brooding.

Later in 1898 J o h n Bransford moved his family a n d Grace to Salt Lake City where Susie hired him as h e r financial advisor. Their business partnership was mutually beneficial; h e r investments flourished and he started a floral business and built some real estate holdings for his own family. H e also e m b a r k e d on an impressive political career, eventually serving as Salt Lake City's mayor during 1907-11. Together they built the Emery Holmes, Grace Louise Emery, a n d Craig apartments a n d the Semloh Hotel (Holmes spelled backwards)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;all excellent rental properties.

After seeking Susie's h a n d for several years, Colonel Holmes tried once more at the fashionable Delmonico Restaurant in New York City where they were d i n i n g with some wealthy Utah friends. O n e local biographer claims he plucked a red rose from the table's centerpiece, tossed it to Susie, a n d a n n o u n c e d t h e i r m a r r i a g e to the g r o u p .

Stunned by his cleverness and persistence, she accepted and they were m a r r i e d on O c t o b e r 12, 1899, in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. After a simple c e r e m o n y a n d r e c e p t i o n they t o o k a l e n g t h y h o n e y m o o n a r o u n d the world. Holmes showered Susie with gifts, beautiful clothes, jewelry, a n d many collectibles both before a n d after their marriage.

Susie surprised many of h e r family a n d friends when she decided to k e e p h e r former m a r r i e d n a m e a n d asked to be called Mrs. EmeryH o l m e s . E n t r a n c e d by h e r beauty, wit, a n d intellect, t h e c o l o n e l catered to h e r every whim, including this unusual request.

To be n e a r their Park City m i n i n g interests a n d Susie's family, Holmes purchased o n e of Salt Lake's most impressive mansions, the Gardo House (Amelia's Palace) from the Mormon church for $46,000.

This five-story Second Empire h o m e , with a tower and basement, had b e e n built in the 1870s for B r i g h a m Young. Susie h i r e d William

Utah's Silver Queen

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Sinclair, a Chicago interior designer, and his staff of thirty-three decorators from Marshall Field, to remodel and redecorate the forty-plus rooms at a cost of $75,000.'1 The Holmeses staged a lavish open house during the 1901 Christmas season. Over a hundred guests enjoyed an exceptional light display, fresh flowers, and the finest foods and liquors available.

The affair, which created a sensation in the local newspapers, was typical of the many wonderful dances, recitals, and banquets Susie hosted there. On Sundays and Fridays she also held elaborate "at homes" or teas A bejeweled Susanna Emery Holmes. USHS that entertained as many as collections. two hundred people.15 About six months later Susie decided there was not enough space in the house to display their paintings and statuary or to entertain their many guests. She built a large building west of the Gardo House for an additional $10,000. It had a stage at one end for theatricals and could easily accommodate over a hundred people for dinner and dancing.

The lower level of the ballroom/art gallery contained a garage designed to hold several cars. When the new addition was completed she held a second open house that was nearly as impressive as the first.

Susie was more family oriented than civic minded, but she did support some community programs and political campaigns.

Theodore Roosevelt personally thanked her for contributing to his election campaign when they met at a Washington party, and years 14 "John Bransford," Salt Lake Tribune, May 24, 1941; Wallace Bransford affidavit, p. 3; J o h n Bransford Biographical Sketch; Hartman interviews; "Mrs. Holmes Again on Witness Stand," Salt Lake Tribune, October 4, 1918; Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in Bransford probate records; "For Love and Affection," Deseret News, October 11, 1899; Joseph Heinerman, "Brigham Young's Grandest Residence, Amelia's Palace," Montana, the Magazine of Western History (winter 1979): 58, 62; Millsaps interview; Lester, Brigham Street, pp. 112, 114.

15 Lester, Brigham Street, pp. 112-14; Hartman interviews; articles in Susie's scrapbook.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

The Silver Queen and her second husband, Col. Edwin E Holmes, were photographed in Ogden soon after their marriage.

Courtesy of Stella Inge.

later she supported his cousin Franklin Roosevelt. Backers of Charles Evans Hughes sought h e r support, b u t she gave it to Woodrow Wilson instead. She staged at least o n e charity function for t h e O r p h a n ' s H o m e a n d Day N u r s e r y Association, a n d a 1902 publication comm e n d e d h e r generosity to t h e city's p o o r a n d t h e newspaper boys.

Additionally, she gave money to the symphony orchestra. For a time she also donated to the Salvation Army, but that probably e n d e d when Gen. William Booth, c o m m a n d e r in chief of the organization, publicly rebuked h e r in the Salt Lake Theatre for fanning herself d u r i n g his speech. She felt humiliated. 16 Susie was very generous with h e r family a n d helped h e r mother, sister, a n d brother a n d their families on numerous occasions. She particularly adored h e r mother, Sara, a n d after h e r father died built h e r m o t h e r a n d h e r younger sister, Nellie, a large h o m e at 521 East 100 South. 17 W h e n Nellie showed an interest in studying piano Susie sent

"' Millsaps interview; interview with Sandy Brimhall, author of a manuscript on the Gardo House; "Fan Annoyed General," article in Susie's scrapbook; Biographical Record of Salt Lake City, p. 211; "Mrs. Emery-Holmes's Public Reply to Hughes Supporters," Salt Lake Tribune, September 9, 1916.

17 Polk's Salt Lake City Directory, 1894; Hartman interviews.

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h e r to the Boston School of Music, but modest Nellie refused money to buy fancy clothes and other luxuries a n d also declined Susie's offer to p r o m o t e h e r socially. Nellie did allow h e r sister to give h e r a lavish w e d d i n g in 1900, however; a n d o n e source claims she h e l p e d t h e y o u n g c o u p l e financially with a gift of m i n i n g stocks valued at $50,000. 18 Susie's relationship with h e r a d o p t e d d a u g h t e r Grace, on the other hand, often proved stressful. After 1900 Susie enrolled Grace in an exclusive girls' school in Washington, D.C., a n d found an apartm e n t nearby. News articles from 1902-4 describe Grace as a sweet and pretty girl, b u t stress in the m o t h e r - d a u g h t e r relationship surfaced w h e n o u t g o i n g Susie tried to p u s h shy Grace into social situations.

Susie, w h o h a d big plans for h e r d a u g h t e r , s e n t h e r o n a trip to E u r o p e to develop h e r m i n d a n d cultivate h e r m a n n e r s . O n m o r e than o n e occasion she told family members that she h o p e d to marry Grace into one of Europe's royal families; the Swedish royal family particularly interested her. Grace, though, was not interested in traveling, visiting museums, or a possible royal marriage. She kept in touch with h e r cousin Wallace Bransford by letter, a n d w h e n they were h o m e from school they were inseparable. Wallace listened sympathetically when she complained about h e r mother's inattentiveness a n d efforts to control h e r life. Susie complained in turn to Nellie that Grace was odd, slow, a n d unappreciative.

When Grace turned eighteen she openly clashed with her mother over the m a n a g e m e n t of h e r money. Susie wanted to put it into a trust fund a n d m a n a g e it for her, b u t Grace w a n t e d c o n t r o l of h e r own finances. T h e real b r e a k o c c u r r e d w h e n Grace told Susie that she wanted to marry Wallace. Susie refused to consider it at first because she felt Grace was too young. Wallace was twenty-three, had recently graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and was unemployed. Susie did n o t dislike h e r nephew, b u t h e was n o t the son-inlaw she had envisioned. She expected h e r b r o t h e r to support h e r in the matter, but he chose n o t to interfere. 19 Finally, after several tense discussions, Susie agreed to a quiet wedding at h o m e on September 4, 1904. She and J o h n signed as witnesses on the marriage license. T h e wedding was a n n o u n c e d in the Deseret Nexus a n d the Salt Lake Tribune the day it occurred, but n o o n e outside 18

Hartman interviews; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 62.

Hartman interviews; Wallace Bransford affidavit; Salt Lake Tribune, October 4, 1918; Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Bransford probate records.

19

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of the family was invited. After the ceremony Susie hosted a wedding breakfast. H e r gift to the couple was a large sterling silver tea service made from Park City silver. T h e whole affair was in good taste but very modest compared to Nellie's lavish wedding four years earlier. Wallace decorated his car with thousands of flowers a n d later took Grace on a h o n e y m o o n to the East Coast.

Grace a n d Wallace moved into the Emery-Holmes A p a r t m e n t s which Susie d e e d e d over to Grace as part of h e r father's estate. Grace changed the n a m e to the Bransford Apartments. During the next thirteen years Wallace capably managed the apartments and Grace's mining interests. T h e y o u n g couple s e e m e d blissfully happy, b u t Grace and h e r m o t h e r appeared unable to m e n d their relationship. 20 Sara Bransford's health began to fail after 1900. Susie cared for h e r with d e v o t i o n a n d t o o k h e r o n several trips h o p i n g t h a t h e r health would improve. T h e Holmeses also purchased two large vacation h o m e s in 1904 or 1905 to e n t e r t a i n h e r a n d m a k e h e r m o r e comfortable. O n e was a s u m m e r retreat in Holladay, five miles south of Salt Lake City on East Mill Creek. This two-story yellow house with a red roof was secluded a m o n g oak a n d cottonwood trees. A stream flowed less t h a n two h u n d r e d feet from the house, making it six to e i g h t d e g r e e s c o o l e r t h a n t h e G a r d o H o u s e . Susie affectionately called this favorite s u m m e r getaway s p o t O a k w o o d . T h e s e c o n d h o m e , located in Pasadena, California, h a d a c o m m a n d i n g view of the valley a n d canyon. T h e previous owners h a d n a m e d it El Roble because of the giant oak growing in the front yard. Holmes, who suffered from arthritis as he aged, particularly loved California's winter climate.

Despite Susie's efforts to prolong h e r mother's life, Sara died in 1905. Susie was devastated with grief a n d lapsed into a d e e p depression. H e r m o t h e r h a d b e e n h e r confidante; h e r e s t r a n g e m e n t from Grace intensified h e r feelings of loss. It was natural, therefore, that she began to focus attention on Nellie a n d h e r young family. Nellie h a d n a m e d h e r d a u g h t e r after Susie a n d called h e r Susanna. T h e b o n d between the sisters grew stronger even though Susie asked permission to a d o p t Susanna. Susie f o u n d h e r y o u n g n a m e s a k e c h a r m i n g a n d spent many hours caring for her. Eventually, Susie would arrange dates for Susanna with Hollywood personalities, buy h e r beautiful clothes, 20

davit.

Salt Lake Tribune, September 7, 1904; Deseret News, September 6, 1904; Wallace Bransford affi-

Utah 5 Silver Queen

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This view of the Gardo House shows the large addition built by Susie to house works of art and provide space for entertaining. Courtesy of Anne Bransford Newhall.

and take h e r to elaborate parties. Meanwhile, Susie's relationship with her brother J o h n grew cooler. Their partnership continued for several years, but she would only communicate with him through their sister Nellie or a third party. Interestingly, in later years she would offer to pay his medical bills when she feared he was seriously ill but cautioned Nellie not to tell him who was paying the expenses. 21 In 1908 Grace c o n t r a c t e d r h e u m a t i c fever, a n d its side effects h a n d i c a p p e d h e r for t h e r e m a i n d e r of h e r life. Susie, a p p a r e n t l y unaware of the seriousness of the disease for some time, did not visit her often. Grace resented h e r mother's lack of attention, while Susie complained to friends and family that Grace seldom invited her to her h o m e and that she never h a d a chance to talk with h e r alone.

By contrast, Susie lavished a t t e n t i o n on H a r o l d L a m b , h e r n e p h e w a n d foster son. She h a d sent h i m to Exeter, a p o s h boy's school, a n d later to Cornell University to pursue a degree in architecture. Very indulgent a n d generous, she may have encouraged him to be too d e p e n d e n t u p o n her. After a few years he tired of school a n d Hartman interviews; interviews with Dr. Harold Lamb, great-nephew of Susie.

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r e t u r n e d to Salt Lake City before completing his degree. H e was very talented, t h o u g h , a n d soon found work with o n e of Utah's leading architectural firmsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Treganza, Ware, a n d Cannon. A short time later, in 1912, he married a Texas beauty, Grizzelle Houston. In 1915 Susie gave him a beautiful Prairie style h o m e on Michigan Avenue in o n e of Salt Lake City's most desirable neighborhoods.

Grace's health steadily deteriorated, and in September 1917 h e r doctor advised h e r to vacation in Los Angeles, hoping a change of climate would help. O n October 24, 1917, she suddenly collapsed and died at age thirty-one. Susie, t h e colonel, his c h i l d r e n , a n d Adele Blood were visiting a h o t springs in Virginia w h e n word came that Grace had died. Adele later reported that Susie threw herself onto the b e d a n d wept for several m i n u t e s w h e n she r e a d t h e t e l e g r a m .

However, she c a b l e d Wallace t h a t she would n o t r e t u r n for t h e funeral, using the colonel's n e e d to continue his treatment for pain as an excuse. To J o h n a n d Wallace's a m a z e m e n t Susie did n o t send flowers to the funeral. Later she would explain that it was considered bad etiquette to send flowers to a relative's funeral. In retaliation for this slight, Wallace a r r a n g e d to have Grace b u r i e d across the street from h e r father's grave in M o u n t Olivet Cemetery so that she would not be near h e r mother's grave in the future. 22 Grace left nearly all of h e r money, properties, and mining stocks to Wallace. H e r will left $10,000 to Susie a n d $10,000 to Albion's surviving sisters. Many were surprised that Susie expected more, but she was livid with a n g e r a n d frustration. She h a d h e l p e d to g e n e r a t e Albion's fortune, had tried to provide h e r daughter with educational a n d social o p p o r t u n i t i e s as she grew to maturity a n d h a d e x p e c t e d Grace to be more appreciative. In addition, Susie still harbored resentm e n t against Wallace for i n t e r f e r i n g with h e r plans for Grace. His n u m e r o u s critical c o m m e n t s a b o u t Susie to mutual friends over the years h a d also i r r i t a t e d her. T h e Salt Lake Tribune a n n o u n c e d o n J a n u a r y 21, 1918, that Susie intended to sue for half of Grace's estate which a m o u n t e d to about $800,000.

T h e trial, which began on September 15, 1918, had a devastating effect on h e r reputation. T h e daily media coverage was frequently critical of h e r a n d colored many local citizens' perceptions of her. Susie alleged that Wallace h a d coerced Grace into leaving him all of h e r 22 Wallace Bransford affidavit and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Bransford probate records; Lamb interviews; " Mrs. Bransford Dies in California," Salt Lake Tribune, October 25, 1917; "Actress Testifies in Bransford Case," Salt Lake Tribune, October 19, 1918.

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assets. H e r attorneys subpoenaed doctors, teachers, and servants, hoping to show t h a t Grace was i n c a p a b l e of m a k i n g s o u n d decisions because she was mentally i n c o m p e t e n t , poorly educated, a n d sickly.

Wallace's attorneys c o u n t e r e d by s u b p o e n a i n g all t h e Bransford friends and associates to show that the couple was happily married and that Grace h a d b e e n mentally competent. Susie's attorneys also subp o e n a e d Adele Blood, Wallace's first cousin on his m o t h e r ' s side of the family. They h o p e d she could convince the j u d g e that Wallace was d o m i n e e r i n g a n d i n c o n s i d e r a t e of Grace a n d h a d p r e v e n t e d t h e m o t h e r and d a u g h t e r from reconciling their differences. This tactic backfired w h e n u n s u b s t a n t i a t e d r u m o r s circulated in the city that Susie had adopted Adele or intended to after the trial.

J u d g e Stevens rejected the stories about Grace's subnormal intelligence a n d p o o r j u d g m e n t because h e felt they could n o t be substantiated. R u l i n g in Wallace's favor, h e d e s c r i b e d Susie as a self-absorbed a n d flagrantly negligent p a r e n t . She was furious a n d h u r t . In particular, she felt t h a t she h a d b e e n unjustly m a l i g n e d throughout the trial and that her efforts to educate and care for Grace had n o t been appreciated. H e r attorneys immediately filed an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, but the court refused to hear the case. 23 Susie was nearly sixty years old when she sued Wallace. She may have b e e n seeking revenge because h e h a d interfered with h e r plans for Grace's future. More likely, though, she simply needed the money. Money was a prerequisite for m e m b e r s h i p in some prestigious eastern social groups. For decades she had been known throughout the United States and Europe for her elaborate parties, beautiful clothes, and impressive jewelry. As she aged she spent extravagantly on travel and luxuries and did not manage her money as wisely as she once had. Moreover, Holmes planned to leave his entire fortune to his four children. 24 After the trial Susie and the colonel returned to El Roble. During the next six years they fully participated in Pasadena's social life, entertaining often and attending parties hosted by many prominent people.

Susie transformed El Roble from a wood-shingled structure to a Tudor m a n s i o n for $37,000 in 1922. D u r i n g their travels the colonel h a d a d d e d to his extensive collection of paintings, statuary, a n d o t h e r 23 The account of the trial is drawn from court records in Utah State Archives and some two dozen articles that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Fvening News, October 1918 through January 1919; "Mrs. Holmes Loses Suit Against Bransford," Deseret Evening News, January 25, 1919; "Florist Testifies in Will Contest," Salt Lake Tribune, October 22, 1918; interviews with Anne Bransford Newhall, granddaughter of Wallace and Edna Bransford, summers of 1993 and 1994.

24 Colonel Holmes probate papers, #14129, Utah State Archives; Hartman interviews.

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Utah Historical Quarterly El Roble, the Pasadena home of the Holmeses. Inset shoius original Arts and Crafts style house that Susie remodeled into the Tudor mansion shown below. The recent television movieThe Christmas Box was filmed there. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Morgan.

m e m e n t o s from Europe, Asia, a n d Africa, and El Roble soon resembled an elaborate art museum. By the mid-1920s the h o m e and its contents were valued at more than a million dollars. 25 After losing Grace, Susie m a d e a p o i n t of staying in touch with H a r o l d L a m b a n d his y o u n g family. O n trips to Salt Lake City she invited t h e m to h e r p e n t h o u s e in the Hotel Utah or visited t h e m at O a k w o o d . She gave each child a $50 bill for his b i r t h d a y a n d Christmas for many years. O n c e she invited Harold, Jr., to ride with h e r in the Rose Bowl Parade. To make the event more memorable she purchased the Prince of Wales' Rolls Royce for the occasion. T h e two of t h e m looked very regal in their best clothes as they drove down Pasadena's streets in the shiny yellow car. !5 "Romantic History Adds Glamour to Eleventh Showcase Design," Pasadena Star, April 17, 1975; Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee, Showcase of Interior Design on El Roble Residence, undated, courtesy of Pasadena City Library.

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About the time she sold the Gardo House in 1920, Susie deeded Oakwood to Harold and his family. H e was overjoyed. With its tall trees, stream, and large garden, the h o m e would make an ideal place to raise his three children. Tragically, Harold died of appendicitis on May 14, 1925, at age thirty-eight. His wife was devastated to discover that he had no savings or life insurance. Susie stepped in to provide Grizzelle with $300 a m o n t h until she remarried several years later. Then, with a new father in the picture, Susie and her foster grandchildren drifted apart.

Of all Susie's relationships those with h e r husbands have generated the most speculation. O n e historian reported that Susie once jokingly told J e n n i e K e a r n s , wife of T h o m a s K e a r n s , t h a t she h a d a difficult time k e e p i n g husbands. Unfortunately, this was true. Only one of h e r four marriages lasted more than ten years, and she outlived all of h e r husbands even though the last two were many years younger.

Susie's relatives r e m e m b e r e d Colonel Holmes as a kindly gentlem a n who i n d u l g e d Susie's eccentricities. 2 6 At first, t h e c o u p l e appeared very happy and Susie seemed content to live and entertain in Utah. But as time passed she outgrew Salt Lake City and frequently traveled a l o n e to W a s h i n g t o n a n d E u r o p e . She may have felt t h a t Holmes, with all of his business a n d social interests, neglected her.

Prior to 1910 he was very involved in politics a n d the Salt Lake City C h a m b e r of Commerce; he also served as commissioner of the water supply. Socially, he had a wide range of contacts as a Mason, as a member of the Alta Club, the University Club, a n d the Salt Lake Country Club, and as president of the Commercial Club.

While Grace was a s t u d e n t in Washington, D.C., Susie h a d an excuse to go t h e r e . Later she c o n t i n u e d to s p e n d several m o n t h s a year in the East. Many of h e r friends were members of p r o m i n e n t easte r n families, including congressmen a n d their wives. She was a freq u e n t guest at parties in Washington and New York a n d hosted some extravagant events herself. 27 Some of h e r socials were so lavish that they p r o m p t e d a r e b u k e from Colorado's Tom Walsh, who liked to think of himself as Washington's king of e n t e r t a i n e r s . Supposedly, Holmes grew i m p a t i e n t with h e r long absences a n d o r d e r e d h e r to r e t u r n to Utah, threatening to sell the Gardo House if she did not. 28 Despite the many examples of generosity to h e r family, Susie 26

Hartman interviews; Lamb interviews; Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 64.

-' Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 63; Lester, Brigham Street, p. 117; Bransford affidavit, Bransford probate records; Hartman interviews; unidentified clippings in Susie's scrapbook.

28 Salt Lake Herald, December 15, 1903, Susie's scrapbook; Lester, Brigham Street, p. 117.

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appeared unkind to her loved ones at times. When Colonel Holmes died September 30, 1925, at age eighty-two, he had been living in Illinois with his two unmarried daughters for two years. Susie, age sixty-six, was traveling when she received a cable notifying her of his death. She told his children to bury him next to their mother, Jennie, as that had been his wish, and not to expect her at the funeral. In reality, she may have feared a confrontaion with his children as he had signed some assets over to her after she lost the lawsuit in 1919 but did not change his will. She and the colonel had both lost money through the years as the value of their mining stocks had depreciated significantly. Perhaps she hoped her lawyers could reconcile the issue with his children so she could avoid dealing with them over the remainder of their father's estate.29 Susie closed El Roble and moved into the Plaza Hotel in New York to be near Adele and h e r daughter Dawn and her eastern friends. She also hired a male secretary, Culver Sherrill, to m a n a g e h e r business affairs. Time was very kind to her during these years. At age seventy she was still a very attractive woman. Instead of slowing down, she continu e d to live life to the fullest measure. She was personally acquainted with several presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt whose silverframed picture traveled with her. Through the years she had met many famous Europeans such as Nicholas II of Russia, Hitler, Mussolini, Pope Leo, and Q u e e n Victoria. She h a d even attended Edward VII's coronation and danced with the Prince of Wales.

A b o u t 1928 Susie c a u g h t t h e eye of two Russian p r i n c e s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Nicholas Engalitcheff, who claimed to be a d e s c e n d a n t of Genghis Khan a n d a relative of the Romanovs, a n d David Dadiani, descended from Georgian aristocracy. Both were p r o m i n e n t m e m b e r s of New York society. Eventually, she chose t h e h a n d s o m e a n d c h a r m i n g Engalitcheff as a suitor; possibly he was more exciting. Nicki, as he was affectionately called, and Susie decided to marry in 1928. Much to the p r i n c e ' s surprise a n d e m b a r r a s s m e n t , h e was d e n i e d a m a r r i a g e license because, the state of New York informed him, his second wife, Baroness Danise Melanie de Bertrand, was not legally dead despite her disappearance in Canada six years earlier. 30 29 "Former Utahn Answers the Call," Park Record, October 2, 1925; "Col. Holmes, Once of Salt Lake, Dies East," Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1925; Lester, Brigham Street, p. 119; Hartman interviews; Col. Holmes probate papers; Col. Holmes's probate from Illinois, #799; Petition to Holmes probate submitted to Kane County, Illinois, 1926.

30 Hartman interviews; "America's 'Silver Queen' Passes Through Adelaide," Deseret News, August 25, 1930; "Silver Queen Ruled Lavishly for Forty Years," Deseret News, July 24, 1979; "Silver Queen Seeks Divorce," Salt Lake Telegram, November 1, 1932.

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After this d i s a p p o i n t m e n t Susie was n e x t r o m a n c e d by a Yugoslavian doctor, Radovan Nobelkov Delitch, p r o m i n e n t in b o t h American and European social circles. Affiliated with New York's Fifth Avenue Hospital, Rada h a d e a r n e d m e d a l s from t h e F r e n c h a n d Yugoslav governments for his surgical skills during World War I. After the war he t u r n e d to research and became a noted cancer specialist.

Surprisingly, the age issue did n o t t r o u b l e Susie or Rada even though he was nearly thirty years younger. They shared friends a n d a love of travel, parties, nice clothes, and "the good life." They were married in Radovan's Paris h o m e on July 19, 1930; but Yugoslav tradition required a church ceremony, a n d so a second marriage took place in a Russian O r t h o d o x church in Paris. At Susie's insistence Rada gave up his medical practice. She convinced him that he did n o t n e e d to work and that it would interfere with their travel plans.

T h e marriage caught most of New York society by surprise. Even Nellie was stunned when she h e a r d about h e r sister's latest marriage from newspaper reporters. Susie later tried to make amends by briefly visiting Salt Lake City to i n t r o d u c e Rada to Nellie a n d h e r U t a h friends.

Between trips a r o u n d the world the Delitches stayed in the Plaza Hotel, but their main residence was El Roble. Rada tried to adjust to married life, but within a short time it was obvious that he was unhappy.

He often withdrew to his study to read or sulk and would refuse to speak English. Susanna Hartman, Susie's niece, remembered him wandering about the house muttering to himself a n d refusing to leave his room when company visited.

Delitch became very jealous of Susie, and she complained that he m a d e public scenes if she talked with o t h e r m e n . W h e n she began attending social functions without him, he hired a detective to report her every move. A servant leaked a story to the newspapers that the couple quarreled about the way she spent her money. Rada wanted her to reduce the n u m b e r of h e r servants at El Roble to save money during the depression. She refused because she worried that some might not find employment elsewhere. H e was also c o n c e r n e d that Susie's stock dividends were dwindling. They did not have his former income to rely on, yet she insisted on traveling and entertaining just the same.31 31 "Drawing Hidden Fortunes from Earth Finest Method, Avers Silver Queen,'" Salt Lake Telegram, September 6, 1932; Pasadena Star, February 5, 1933; "Utah Woman Back from Honeymoon," Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1930, "Mrs. Emery-Holmes Is Bride of Physician at 71," Salt Lake Telegram, July 19, 1930; Hartnrarr interviews.

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Susie was disappointed with h e r niece's choice of a husband.

Gage H a r t m a n , t h o u g h a nice fellow, did n o t have money or a promising career. Despite misgivings, she hosted a large wedding in St. Mark's C a t h e d r a l a n d an impressive reception at the Hotel Utah. T h e wedding resembled a fairy tale event as the church was elegantly decorated with dozens of beautiful flowers, many potted plants, a n d ribbons. Susie stood by t h e b r i d e in a s t u n n i n g r e d dress, instead of l a v e n d e r that the bride had preferred, feeling that red b e t t e r highlighted h e r coiffured white hair.

After Susie asked Rada to leave, he begged Nellie and Susanna Hartman to intervene on his behalf. Distraught and penitent, h e begged for a n o t h e r chance, but his efforts at a reconciliation were fruitless. In November 1932 Susie sent him on a cruise to E u r o p e ; when h e r e t u r n e d the Susie and her third husband, Dr. Radovan Delitch. Courtesy of Harold Lamb. divorce would be final.

A m o n t h later, while she was lunching with Susanna, Susie received a telegram telling h e r that on Christmas Eve the ship's crew had discovered Delitch's body and a suicide note b e m o a n i n g the fact that h e was alone a n d friendless now that Susie h a d left him. She read it quietly, reflected for a m o m e n t , a n d t h e n carried on as t h o u g h n o t h i n g h a d h a p p e n e d . Some have criticized h e r for n o t outwardly grieving a n d postponing the lunch, b u t H a r t m a n believed that she acted o u t of c o n s i d e r a t i o n for her.

Susie realized that h e r niece had been looking forward to the lunch for many weeks a n d did n o t wish to disappoint her. More i m p o r t a n t perhaps, Susie did not discuss personal problems with h e r family, possibly fearing they would disapprove of h e r lifestyle.

Utah's Silver Queen

25

W h e n she was alone, Susie dealt with h e r grief a n d also directed h e r secretary, Culver Sherrill, to arrange to have the Yugoslavian navy bury Delitch at sea. Years later she told a newspaper reporter that she was sure Rada h a d n o t committed suicide a n d that they would have reconciled their differences and lived happily at El Roble if he had not died unexpectedly. 32 Within six weeks of Radovan's death, Susie sold El Roble. A Los Angeles company, George Fischer and Sons, was hired to handle the auction. More than 25,000 people came from southern California and elsewhere to tour the house. Such treasures as the Prince of Wales' yellow a n d black Rolls Royce sold for only $700, while the j e w e l e d goblets Tsar Nicholas II h a d given h e r went for $65 apiece. T h e sale raised only $100,000. Later, the auction company acknowledged that the replacement value of the house and its contents in 1933 was over o n e million dollars, b u t t h e d e p r e s s i o n h a d u n d e r c u t t h e m a r k e t value. Susie secluded herself to avoid publicity while h e r h o m e a n d treasures were purchased by A n n a C. Newcomb, the widow of James Newcomb of Standard Oil. 33 A few months later Susie and Nicki Engalitcheff became engaged a second time. She was seventy-four a n d he was sixty. T h e marriage would be h e r fourth a n d his third. This time New York allowed them to p r o c e e d with a civil marriage on O c t o b e r 18, 1933, followed by a religious c e r e m o n y at t h e Russian O r t h o d o x c h u r c h o n H o u s t o n Street about a m o n t h later. O n e source claims the prince's gold crown was too large and fell down onto his nose during the church wedding.

No matter, Susie was delighted with the marriage and h e r new title of princess.

It was not a love match. Susie was more interested in a travel companion than an amorous relationship and there is evidence that Nicki openly admired her sister Nellie because she was more of a homemaker.

No doubt Susie also enjoyed the attention she received as the wife of a Russian p r i n c e . It established h e r social legitimacy. In public Nicki appeared to be a kind a n d c h a r m i n g man, b u t h e was also p o m p o u s and condescending to women. Susie seemed to enjoy catering to his needs, but that may have been a pose. Some have speculated that he was 32 Hartman interviews; Lamb interviews; and unidentified wedding announcement placed about September 1933 in a Salt Lake City newspaper.

33 "'Silver Queen' Seeks Divorce," Salt Lake Telegram, November 1, 1932; Pasadena Star, February 5, 1933; "'Utah Silver Queen', 74, Weds 60 Year Old Prince," Salt Lake Tribune, October 20, 1933; "Palace of 'Silver Queen' Stripped of Treasures, Salt Lake Tribune, January 29, 1933; Hartman interviews.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

ill during most of their marriage or that h e was an invalid a n d h a d a n u r s e .

Susanna H a r t m a n n o t e d that he was a chain smoker and drank heavily.

Nicki died of a stroke on March 25, 1935. T h e couple were separated when h e died; the o b i t u a r y listed his resid e n c e as the H o t e l Barclay, n o t t h e Plaza Hotel where Susie lived when she was in town. She was not with him when he died and did not attend his funeral.

T h e a u t o b i o g r a p h y of h e r business manager, Culver Sherrill, explains that Nicki left Susie for a y o u n g e r w o m a n soon after their h o n e y m o o n a n d that Prince Nicholas V. Engalitcheff, Susie's fourth husband. Courtesy she refused to take him back when the of Susanna Hartman and Raye affair ended. Despite the obituary that Ringholz. a p p e a r e d in the New York Times a n d in the Salt Lake City newspapers, Susie told her family and western friends an incredible story that has b e e n exaggerated and embellished over the years. She claimed that she a n d Nicki were traveling with friends when he died on a Mediterranean cruise. Rather than cancel the trip to bury him in the U n i t e d States, she decided to store his body in a w a r e h o u s e in o n e of the M e d i t e r r a n e a n ports a n d take care of his funeral later. When news of h e r plans leaked to the press some Russian nationals insisted that she give him a burial at sea befitting his rank.

She also claimed to have h i r e d a w o m a n to i m p e r s o n a t e h e r at the funeral by wearing h e r clothes a n d a black veil. 34 P e r h a p s she was evening the score for past injuries t h r o u g h h e r h u m o r o u s version of his death and funeral.

T h e fifth m a n to play a major part in Susie's life was h e r business manager Culver Sherrill, a little m a n with dyed red hair and a moust a c h e . S o m e have suggested t h a t h e was h e r last lover, b u t o t h e r s believe that unlikely. H e was interested in someone else at that time.

In h e r will Susie fondly described him as h e r closest friend. H e tirelessly cared for h e r and h e r business interests. H e made all their travel 34 Hartman interviews; Salt Lake Tribune, January 29, 1933; Pasadena Star, February 5, 1933; Salt Lake Tribune, October 20, 1933; "Prince Weds 'Silver Queen' Second Time," unidentified newspaper clipping courtesy of Dr. Lamb; Ringholz to author; Hartman interviews; Culver Sherrill, Crimes without Punishment (Hicksville, N.Y: Exposition Press, 1977), p. 68; telephone interview with Angelo Boncaraglio, Culver Sherrill's companion, Taormina, Sicily, summer 1994.

Utah's Silver Queen

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arrangements a n d packed for both of them. W h e n she died in 1942 he was a fifty-year-old bachelor.

Toward the e n d of h e r life Susie gave Sherrill the legal authority to sell h e r property. Some m e m b e r s of h e r family b e c a m e a l a r m e d when he began selling many of her properties and stocks in the 1930s.

He did not account to anyone except Susie for the money. A few relatives and Culver's companion suggested she may have become senile because h e r behavior seemed unwise a n d unpredictable.

After the sale of El Roble Susie preferred living in hotels. W h e n she r e t u r n e d to Utah in 1938 to check on h e r mines, she arrived in the Denver 8c Rio Grande's Pullman suite a n d checked into a suite of rooms in the Hotel Utah for the summer. Many years had passed since h e r last visit, a n d she was greeted like royalty by the press a n d public.

She told reporters she would n o t tour E u r o p e again. At age seventynine she was tired of traveling and wanted to settle down.

Susie died on August 4, 1942, at the age of eighty-three. She h a d recently moved from h e r Plaza H o t e l suite in New York to the less expensive Hotel Wendell near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. T h e day she died she was on her way to visit a friend in Virginia and had stopped at the Putnam Inn for the night. That evening she and some friends had planned to attend a party. When she failed to meet them, one of them went u p to her room and found her lifeless body lying on the bed with a sleeping mask over h e r eyes.35 T h r o u g h o u t the years Susie had many close relationships with her servants. Mary, the h e a d maid in Amelia's Palace, always referred to h e r as "madam," and o t h e r m e m b e r s of the staff also respected a n d admired h e r because she treated them well a n d never chastised them publicly. If necessary she was n o t above cleaning h e r own bathroom.

W h e n food n e e d e d a d d i t i o n a l seasoning, she typically j u m p e d u p from the table a n d salted it herself instead of reproving the cook. A Pasadena h o m e tour script noted that Susie's servants at El Roble were also very loyal a n d devoted to her. After she left California she maintained a close relationship with J. E. F e l d m a n a n d his wife Letitia.

Feldman h a d served as El Roble's gardener for several years and lived on the estate with his family. H e was also o n e of h e r witnesses in the 1918 trial against Wallace Bransford.

In light of these close relationships with her employees, it is easy to 35 Salt Lake Tribune, May 12, 1938; Hartman interviews; "'Silver Queen' of Utah Closes Famed Career," Park Record, August 6, 1942; all of the obituary notices in Utah newspapers were essentially the same; Hartman and Lamb interviews; Boncaraglio interview.

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u n d e r s t a n d why she left h e r estate to two m e m b e r s of h e r staff. H e r will directed the executor to set u p a $4,000 trust fund for F e l d m a n a n d his wife. They were to receive $100 a m o n t h for life, as a small token for their devotion a n d loyalty. Culver Sherrill received the rest of h e r estate and personal property, including several stocks. In 1939, t h r e e years before h e r death, Susie h a d given h i m t h e R i c h m o n d Apartments—later r e n a m e d the Sherrill A p a r t m e n t s — i n Salt Lake City.

S o m e of Susie's relatives, surprised to find they were n o t mentioned in h e r will, wanted to c h a l l e n g e it, believing she was mentally i n c o m p e t e n t p r i o r to h e r death. H e r magnificent jewelry was n o t p a r t of h e r estate, a n d they were further surprised w h e n t h e e x e c u t o r a n n o u n c e d Even in her mature years the Silver Queen t h a t m o s t of h e r m o n e y was projected an image of beauty and style. USHS g o n e . Nellie asked Sherrill for collections. her mother's jewelry—which Susie h a d inherited at Sara's d e a t h — b u t h e told h e r it was also gone.

It is h a r d to explain why Susie chose to leave h e r relatives nothing, although some of t h e m h a d b e e n openly critical of h e r or were cool or indifferent toward her. She rewrote h e r will in 1939, revoking any previous wills that may have included them. In this final will she r e m i n d e d h e r relatives that she h a d been very generous to them during h e r lifetime a n d felt that was enough. 3 6 Even in h e r grave Susie has remained the subject of speculation by historians a n d others, with o n e writer suggesting that h e r death was 36 Hartman and Lamb interviews; Susanna B. Engalitcheff's Will, #24672, pp. 1, 2, 5, in probate records, Utah State Archives; Pasadena Home Tour Notes; "Florist Testifies in Will Contest," Salt Lake Tribune, October 22, 1918; Engalitcheff probate records; Ringholz to author.

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the result of foul play or suicide. T h e r e is insufficient evidence to supp o r t either premise, b u t b o t h are worthy of discussion because it is important to dispel the false rumors this theory spawned. T h e notion of suicide or foul play probably developed because Susie sent Nellie a strange letter a few weeks before she died. She complained of being afraid but did not explain why. Since that time people have wondered why Susie wrote such a letter but did not ask for help.

T h e suicide theory is plausible in light of Susie's financial problems. After h e r death several newspapers reported that she h a d only $65,000 left of h e r many millions. By 1942 nearly all of h e r stocks were worthless. T h e Silver King Mine h a d paid few dividends d u r i n g the depression. W h e n the estate was probated in Utah a n d California, it was discovered t h a t she actually owed U t a h ' s C o n t i n e n t a l Bank $22,000 a n d h a d p l e d g e d h e r r e m a i n i n g stocks against the debt. A New York appraiser estimated the value of h e r clothes, remaining jewelry, a n d cash on h a n d at $250 when she died. Susie probably h a d to sell El Roble and h e r jewelry to support herself during the depression as she was nearing bankruptcy.

T h e California probate hearing also revealed that she had been ill shortly before she died. Unfortunately, neither Utah n o r California probate records provide any details of h e r illness. Despite h e r failing health a n d financial woes, those family m e m b e r s who a d m i r e d h e r most feel that suicide was n o t h e r style a n d would never have b e e n an option. As for the note to Nellie, it is risky to try to explain h e r motive for sending it. Many older people frequently worry about their health and money.

T h e foul play theory should also be dismissed; it has n o factual foundation. It developed because of h e r sudden a n d medically unattended d e a t h â&#x20AC;&#x201D; n o t in itself a suspicious circumstance. T h e death certificate lists arteriosclerosis as the cause of d e a t h . Sherrill deserves praise for faithfully watching over Susie in h e r old age. Unfortunately, his boastful statements after Susie's funeral made h e r heirs suspicious of h i m . In 1943 h e told s o m e r e p o r t e r s in California t h a t h e h a d inherited $4,000,000, whereas a few months earlier he had told Susie's relatives that she h a d died almost penniless. It is highly probable that Susie gave Sherrill some of the money a n d jewelry in question so that probate would not be a source of contention a m o n g h e r relatives a n d friends after her death. She also may have given Adele and Dawn some of h e r jewelry because they played an important role in h e r later life.

F u r t h e r m o r e , Susanna H a r t m a n a n d Harold Lamb, Jr., Susie's niece

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and great-nephew, have stated that any gifts Sherrill may have received he deserved for his years of faithful service. 37 Sherrill also unconsciously fueled suspicion when he built or leased a villa in Taormina, Sicily, with a staff of six servants. Some wondered how he could afford to live in luxury if Susie's fortune was as depleted as he had claimed. Some relatives were still upset that Susie had given him the Richmond (Sherrill) Apartments a n d felt the building rightfully b e l o n g e d to the family. A few years after Susie's d e a t h he sold these apartments to the Mormon church for $1,800 a month. During a thirtyyear period the M o r m o n church paid him over $650,000. 38 Susie's burial expenses were paid by h e r estate, not by h e r family as some have r e p o r t e d . Sherrill took care of the a r r a n g e m e n t s personally. After seeing Susie dressed to perfection in furs and jewels in life, h e r niece Susanna H a r t m a n was disappointed when she later saw h e r in the coffin. T h e dress was too plain a n d h e r hair a n d m a k e u p did n o t look right. Susie's funeral was h e l d at the Evans a n d Early Mortuary at 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 8, 1942. She was buried in M o u n t Olivet C e m e t e r y n e x t to h e r first h u s b a n d , Albion Emery.

H a r t m a n chose a h e a d s t o n e some twelve inches square a n d t h r e e inches high a n d simply h a d the initials S.B.E. carved on it. With the large stone Bransford-Emery marker, the small stone s e e m e d adequate. 39 In the process of sorting the myths from the facts a b o u t Susie's life, it is important to p u t h e r in historical context. Rather than comparing h e r to the average Utah woman of h e r time, with whom she h a d little in c o m m o n , it makes m o r e sense to view h e r a m o n g h e r wealthy associates in W a s h i n g t o n a n d New York. T h e "old g u a r d " m a d e it difficult for the newly rich to infiltrate their exclusive social circles. To belong, Susie had to play by the rules. Originally, as the New York Herald p o i n t e d out, lineage was a prerequisite for m e m b e r s h i p .

(The Bransford family h a d b e e n p r o m i n e n t in the South before the 37 Ringholz, Diggings and Doings, p. 64; Lamb interviews; "Estate Left by Princess Set at $65,918," Salt Lake Tribune, Junei, 1943; Engalitcheff probate records from Utah and Los Angeles, California; death certificate of Susanna B. Engalitcheff, Vital Statistics Department, Hartford, Connecticut; Hartman interviews; "'Silver Queen' Wills Millions to Manager of Estate," Salt Lake tribune, August 26, 1942.

58 Murray interviews; interview with Gene Kellogg, nephew of Culver Sherrill; interviews with Frances Darger, niece of Susie's Salt Lake City lawyer, Frank Johnson; interview with Merna Hansen, LDS Real Estate Department. A title search at the Salt Lake County Recorder's Office revealed that Culver Sherrill received the property from Susie on January 31, 1939. The Mormon church purchased the property on February 25, 1950, for $60 a day for the remainder of Sherrill's life. This amounted to more than $650,000 by the time of his death in 1981. The church also paid all of Culver's taxes on this income.

39 Engalitcheff probate records; "Rites Planned Saturday for 'Silver Queen,'" Salt Lake Tribune, August 6, 1942; Hartman interviews.

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Civil War destroyed their holdings.) Later, family b e c a m e a minor consideration, a n d "social p r o m i n e n c e . . . was expressed . . . in t e r m s of millions r a t h e r t h a n in l i n e a g e . " This c o u l d explain why Susie tried to conceal h e r real n e t worth u p until the day she died.

J u s t p r i o r to 1900 social newcomers such as the Vanderbilts a n d Rockefellers struggled to gain t h e a c c e p t a n c e of t h e Astors, Morrises, Cabots, a n d Lodges by staging elaborate parties a n d boasting of their great wealth. They soon discovered it was also i m p o r t a n t to know t h e "right people." For example, the Culver Sherrill, Susie's private secretary.

T o m Walshes of Ouray, ColorCourtesy of Frances Darger. a d o , were n o t a c c e p t e d by t h e elite socialites of Denver, Washington, or New York until they h a d traveled to E u r o p e . O n c e they h a d mingled with E u r o p e a n royalty a n d statesmen in Paris they were given a chance to affiliate with the "right people" in the United States.

Having won acceptance, the people of recent wealth saw to it that their children socialized with a n d m a r r i e d into t h e right groups to consolidate or increase family wealth. Stephen Birmingham, a chronicler of this era, called the years between 1890 a n d 1930 the "Era of the Great Splurge" because the newly rich aggressively a n d competitively spent m o n e y as never before to impress each other. A n o t h e r author, Mary Cable, wrote that the nouveau riche, with "nothing really serious or i m p o r t a n t to d o " after amassing their fortunes, kept "an almost frantic schedule of heavy dinners, vast balls a n d formal calls.

Laden with baggage they weekended . . . here a n d abroad, always with 'people we know' a n d avoiding 'people we d o n ' t know.'" 40

"' Mary Cable, Top Drawer: American High Society from the Cilded Age to the Roaring Twenties (Hanover: McClelland & Stewart, 1984), pp. vii-x, 18, 23, 28; Stephen Birmingham, America's Secret Aristocracy (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1987), pp. 13, 278, 282; Kathryn A.Jacob, "High Society in Washington during the Gilded Age: Three Distinct Aristocracies" (Ph.D. diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1986), p. 266.

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It appears that philanthropic activities were n o t generally undertaken by many p r o m i n e n t p e o p l e until a later period. As for family life, the wealthy usually sent their children to boarding schools, as did Susie, a n d often were too busy to spend m u c h time with t h e m even during holidays or s u m m e r vacations. Governesses were expected to n u r t u r e the children a n d teach them m a n n e r s and discipline.

Finally, it is important to remember that Susie had a good sense of h u m o r and was a great storyteller. She may have inadvertently started some of the myths about h e r life by making flippant comments. Some seemingly insensitive statements, such as the one to h e r friend Jennie Kearns about hanging h e r four wedding rings like grapes in the bathroom, were probably intended to be h u m o r o u s or even self-deprecating. In o n e of h e r most outrageous comments she is quoted as saying that she regretted the passing of an era "when rich people could live like they wanted to live, could afford to live, without fear of offending the proletariat." Perhaps some historians have taken her remarks too seriously. O n e thing is fairly certain, as a m e m b e r of an exclusive group of Americans in the "Era of the Great Splurge," Susie believed she had a public image to maintain. She may also have used it as a shield to help preserve her dignity in good and bad times. O n e c o m m e n t published immediately after h e r d e a t h seems to reflect the views of many who knew h e r during her lifetime: "Famed for a remarkable personality as much as for her extreme wealth, the princess was often described as a blend of grand dame, business woman, cosmopolite and breezy westerner, forming a striking and attractive combination." 41 Contemporary observers d u b b e d Susie Utah's Silver Q u e e n , a n d the title has remained exclusively hers for almost a century. To attempt to label h e r today as either a cold, unfeeling socialite or as a caring and loving daughter, wife, sister, mother, aunt, a n d friend would distort h e r life. H e r actions clearly reveal a c o m p l e x personality that exhibited many traits, endearing a n d otherwise. While Utah's "silver kings" a n d o t h e r m i n i n g millionaires o p e n e d businesses or b o u g h t newspapers, railroads, a n d political influence, Susie's exuberant spirit seemed to soar when a h a n d s o m e prince, a good time, or preferably b o t h were at h a n d . Perhaps the most significant thing to r e m e m b e r about Susie is that she, m o r e than any other individual who gained a fortune from Utah's mines, used h e r wealth to create a highly visible " Florida Too Cold, New York Too Hot and California Too Sad, So Globe Trotting Princess Comes Back Home," Salt Lake Telegram, May 11, 1938; Malmquist, The First One Hundred Years, p. 214; Hartman and Lamb interviews; "Death Comes to Utah's Silver Queen,'" Salt Lake Tribune, August 5, 1942.

Utah 5 Silver Queen

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place for herself in elite social circles in America and Europe. In doing so she exemplified the "Era of the Great Splurge." 42 42 The millionaires mentioned are Thomas Kearns and David Keith, Susie's business partners.

The following bit of folklore was taken from an interview with Susanna Hartman and two Mount Olivet Cemetery guides, Mary Dawn Coleman and Floralie Millsaps: Legendary in life, Susie is apparently not allowed to rest in peace even now. Local folklorists claim that after the funeral some of her friends filled her coffin with silver dollars out of love and respect for her memory. The present Evans and Early Mortuary staff insists the story is false, but over the years members of Susie's family have complained that their family headstones have been moved and are not in the right places. After her life of adventures, real and fabricated, it somehow seems fitting that Utah's illustrious Silver Queen, who rose from modest circumstances in Park City to riches and lost most of it in the end, might be resting in a coffin filled with silver dollars. A major water line for the cemetery's sprinkler system runs through the middle of the Emery and Bransford graves, making it necessary to move headstones occasionally to replace or work on the water pipes. Humorously, the current sexton at Mount Olivet, Daniel Valdez, is not sure that Susie's body actually rests beneath her headstone and does not want to discuss the story. No doubt Susie would be delighted with this amusing situation. She loved to leave people guessing.

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 84101-1182. 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: 3,328 copies printed; 85 dealer and counter sales; 2,915 mail subscriptions; 3,000 total paid circulation; 42 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,057 total distribution; 271 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total, 3,328.

The following figures are the actual number of copies of the single issue published nearest to filing date: 3,241 copies printed; 15 dealer and counter sales; 2,975 mail subscriptions; 2,990 total paid circulation; 31 free distribution (including samples) by mail, carrier, or other means; 3,031 total distribution; 210 inventory for office use, leftover, unaccounted, spoiled after printing; total 3,241.

Hospitality and Gullibility: A Magician's View of Utah's Mormons

BY DAVID L. ZOLMAN, SR.

1869 AND 1912, GEORGE A N T O N ZAMLOCH, billing himself as T h e Great Zamloch, took his magic show on the road t h r o u g h o u t the West. His itinerary included Hawaii, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, a n d Utah. An Austrian immigrant based in San Francisco, h e was a genial a n d g o o d - n a t u r e d m a n who was quick to praise the hospitality h e f o u n d in U t a h ' s small towns b u t equally quick to disdain local superstition, stinginess, a n d u n c o u t h behavior whenever he e n c o u n t e r e d it.

Zamloch retired in 1912 a n d wrote an extensive memoir, still in possession of the family, that has never been published or cited in any of the scholarly literature a b o u t the West a n d Mormons. 1 Based primarily on that memoir, this p a p e r recounts his 1882 tour of Utah's small towns a n d offers personal reflections on the landladies, innkeepers, bishops, a n d stage managers whom he re-creates so vividly.

T h e mining towns of Park City and Silver Reef stand in cosmopolitan c o n t r a s t to conservative f a r m i n g villages such as St. G e o r g e , Toquerville, a n d Centerville. T h e Great Zamloch, an illusionist by trade, had a remarkably brisk way of dispelling social illusions in print, and his sleight of h a n d became a deft touch in his first-person writing.

Today's historian must wonder about the reliability of Zamloch's memoir, it having b e e n p e n n e d by an acknowledged showman thirty years after the experiences described therein. The human memory is fallible. Names, places, dates, people, and events can slip out of place over time. Yet, this reminiscence has the ring of credibility. It is told straightforwardly a n d with n o a p p a r e n t t e n d e n t i o u s edge. Even g r a n t i n g allowances for memory lapses and any storyteller's tendency to portray himself in a heroic light, the reader will still find Zamloch's narrative rich BETWEEN

Mr. Zolman is a family historian living in Salt Lake City. He encountered the memoir from which this article is taken while working with a genealogical client, Archer W. Zamloch II, grandson of George Anton Zamloch. Mr. Zolman acknowledges with appreciation the excellent editorial assistance received from Lavina Fielding Anderson and Larry L. Piatt.

1 George Anton Zamloch, "Zamloch Travels," carbon of typescript, 1912, 344 pp. in possession of Archer W. Zamloch II who lives in Los Angeles, California.

A Magician's View of Utah's Mormons

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"THE GREAT ZAM" ADMIT ONE Ticketâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Three Yen.

THE GREAT ZAMLOCH

"The Great Zamloch"from Genii magazine, November 1940, from a ca. 1885photograph.

The magazine called him "one of the better known and more capable of the great stage magicians. " Courtesy of the author.

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in description, charm, and imagery. It is a document that illuminates the social and cultural values of Utah and the West in the 1880s.

Zamloch's first exposure to magic came in his boyhood when he e n c o u n t e r e d an illusionist n a m e d Ignaz Kaitna in his native village of Raschach, situated on the River Sava in Lower Austria. As Zamloch described it, the Sava divided the province of Krain, a Slavonian-speaking region, from Steiermark, a German-speaking one. T h e magician, a G e r m a n speaker, n e e d e d a Slavonian-speaking assistant, a n d in o n e afternoon's rehearsal taught young Anton to hide u n d e r the table and h a n d u p items a n d take others away on cue. Thus, Anton never suffered from the delusion that real magic was involved in any of the illusions, even t h o u g h his m o t h e r , o n c e she f o u n d o u t it was a magic show, was horrified, positive that h e h a d sold his soul to the devil.

Young A n t o n was "so infatuated" with tricks, that h e disobeyed his mother, sneaked away from h o m e to help with the next afternoon's performance, a n d remained "crazy on magic."

Anton was still in his early teens, apparently about fourteen, when he was medically examined for the army. Since he insisted that he would r u n away, given the first opportunity, his father, to avoid the disgrace to the family, shipped him off to San Francisco to an uncle, accompanied by an older sister whom he does not mention again in his memoir. They left h o m e March 10, 1864, and arrived on April 5 aboard the Teutonia of Hamburg. 2 He was fifteen; his sister, Marie, was seven years his senior.

Anton attended school for a few years, then began working for a p r i n t e r . W h e n h e b e c a m e ill, h e w e n t first to Santa Cruz, t h e n to nearby Soquel. T h e r e a friend began calling him George, a n a m e he u s e d from t h a t p o i n t o n . W h e n a magician c a m e to town o n t h e vaudeville circuit, the old infatuation reignited a n d Anton immediately began duplicating the little tricks he had learned from Kaitna. "I intended to start out on the road as a Magician, but kept it secret from everybody," he confessed. Before long, however, h e found two partners a n d printed a thousand handbills reading: Amusing and Mysterious!

ZAMLOCH The Great Austrian Wizard From the Imperial Court of Vienna In a Series of New and Marvelous Wonders, etc.

2 Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, Germans to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports (Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1991), 15:195. In 1878-79 the San Francisco city directory lists him as a waiter at the New York Bakery.

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"I will never forget that day when Carter brought them from the printing office," he recalled from a perspective of m o r e than thirty years.

"I hastily broke the package open to look at them. It was the first time that I saw my n a m e in p r i n t . To say t h a t I was p r o u d is p u t t i n g it mildly." H e and his partners sketched out an ambitious route for their initial tour: Folsom, then Placerville, Georgetown, a n d then eastward to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado.

T h e next several chapters in Zamloch's m e m o i r are packed with hilarious incidents as the magic-making g r e e n h o r n s set out on their tour, bedeviled by problems of weather, suspicious landlords, lost luggage, a n d n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y m o d e s of conveyance that o n e might expect. A l t h o u g h Zamloch c h a n g e d p a r t n e r s a n d assistants several times a n d was usually short of money, h e improved steadily in proficiency and within a few years c o m m a n d e d a respectableâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;even impress i v e â&#x20AC;&#x201D; r e p e r t o i r e of illusions a n d sleight of h a n d . In 1 8 8 3 - 8 4 h e triumphantly listed his occupation as "magician" in the city directory, although he h a d become the vaguer "showman" by the next year.

Zamloch's first performances in Utah certainly occurred before 1882, but his first detailed description of the territory relates to Park City of that year. Having b o o m e d into existence a decade earlier with the discovery of rich silver veins in Ontario Canyon, Park City was definitely a thriving place by 1882. A local source praised the c o m m u nity's Main Street as a "thoroughfare" with sidewalks "the entire length of the street," noting further that " d r u n k e n n e s s a n d rowdyism have modified to a great extent, a n d the firing of pistols in the d e a d of night is a rare occurrence now." 3 Park City was the third town in the state to receive telephone service, an innovation in 1881 with rates of $3.00 a m o n t h when a miner's wages were $2.50 a day. T h e Aschiem general store, a two-story brick a n d stone structure, had iron window shutters a n d o n e of the first fireproof metal roofs in town. Relatively new businesses when Zamloch arrived were the Park City Bank, the Dexter Stables, a n d Shields' grocery store.

T h e decision to play Park City was t a k e n o n t h e s p u r of t h e moment. After playing for a week in Salt Lake City, Zamloch was about to p r o c e e d to Wyoming Territory when an agent advised him that a circus was passing t h r o u g h a n d to wait a few days. Zamloch chose to spend this week in Park City, presumably because it was "a b o o m i n g 3 George A. Thompson and Fraser Buck, Treasure Mountain Home: Park City Revisited (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, 1981), p. 45.

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mining town." Without any advance billings a n d without a theater, h e "trusted to luck," hired a M o r m o n teamster to haul the luggage, and took the stagecoach with his wife Elizabeth, their baby, and Billy Marx, Elizabeth's younger b r o t h e r who was then Zamloch's assistant. A talkative Irishman on the stagecoach chatted about the entertainment he was going to give of "reading a n d recitations" but was also "trusting to luck about securing the theatre." Zamloch said nothing but as soon as the coach reached Park City, he immediately went in search of the theater owner, a saloon keeper, a n d asked to r e n t the theater. It is n o t clear which theater this would be. Park City's pride, the Society Hall, h a d the r e p u t a t i o n of b e i n g "one of the finest show houses in the West," featured "a large orchestra pit, elaborate stage scenery, a n d a fancy lobby a n d seating area" b u t it was n o t constructed until 1883, the year after Z a m l o c h ' s tour. 4 However, a city history r e p o r t s that a m o n g the "great stars of the day" who played it was "Zinlock [sic] the Magician." 5 T h e following exchange, quoted in full, shows Zamloch's ease with a n d skill as a raconteur: "What kind of a show have you got" he asked. I told him it was magic.

"What? Slight of hand show?" I told him that it was.

"Well, my friend, go back to where you came from. This town isn't partial to that kind of shows. You couldn't take in rent." "Well, what is your rent" I inquired. "The rent is $10, but you won't take in fifty cents." "Well, if that is the case, put your rent at the figure you think I will take in," I said. "But I'm telling you that no one will come to see you." I told him that I would try it anyway, and if he would make the rent reasonable I would pay it in advance.

"If you want to lose your money you can have it for $5, that is if you pay in advance." "All right," I said, "but if the case is as bad as you say, I may not have a good house the first night, but I have a good show, and I know that we could draw a good house the second night. How much will you charge for the second performance?" 'You will be so sick after the first show that you won't want to try another. But if you have more money than you know what to do with, you can have it for another $5." "And if I want the theatre for a longer period, will you let me have it for $5 each night?" 'You can have it for $5 a night if you show a year. But what is the use of you talking. You will try to show only one night."

"I will secure the theatre for four nights, and I will pay you now." I threw a twenty dollar gold piece on the counter and asked for a receipt. During this conversation the miners (about forty of them) were listening.

"Now, I'll bet you this twenty dollar gold piece that you won't take in twenty dollars in your four nights." I answered that I didn't want to win his 4 5

Ibid., p. 47.

Ibid., p. 48.

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'^'^^.

Park City, Utah, in the 1880s. USHS collections.

money, "But," I said, "I will bet you the treat of the house that I will take in more than twenty dollars the first night." "All right. I'll go you," he said.

He called everybody up to the bar. The bill was $4 and I paid it and said to him, "If we take in more money than twenty dollars the first night, you will give me back the four dollars?" "Sure I will, but I'm afraid that you will lose."

T h e g a r r u l o u s Irishman, who was eating d i n n e r at the hotel 6 while Zamloch was concluding this a r r a n g e m e n t , never forgave the magician. H e later m a n a g e d a chain of theaters in M o n t a n a b u t would never let Zamloch play.

T h e next day Zamloch a n d his helpers plastered the town with fliers. They o p e n e d the next night. According to Zamloch's narrative: We showed in Park City the four nights. Our smallest house was $118.

For a small town it was unusually large business. On our opening night, not having enough seats in the theatre, some miners brought six benches from " Zamloch does not identify the hotel, but Park City in the early 1880s had three prominent ones: the Salt Lake House in the center of town, the Park City Hotel, and the Park Hotel. Ibid., p. 46.

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that saloon from whom I rented the theatre. The benches remained in the theatre until we got through. On the morning after the last performance, after we got through packing, Billy returned the benches to the saloon.

When he brought the last one, the saloon man said to Billy, "Take these four dollars to your boss. He won the bet. But tell him to come here and kick me.

Zamloch explained, with a droll sense of deadpan: "It was on account of heavy billing (printers ink is the thing). T h e r e is magic in it."

His next appearances in Utah apparently occurred the same season. "In Utah the business was good," he recalls. "After finishing the larger towns we decided to play the smaller ones." Referring to these smaller towns, h e wrote: "We have h a d some t o u g h experiences in country hotels a n d stopping places in the last forty years, but that was the hardest deal we ever got. T h a t was in 1882, but it is as fresh in my m e m o r y as though it h a p p e n e d yesterday."

T h e magician's team at this point consisted of a young m a n who was the advance agent a n d a M o r m o n teamster with a heavy spring wagon and four horses whom Zamloch hired for $8 a day. He does not n a m e this teamster but says, "This m a n proved to be very valuable. In many places he was the means of us securing the 'Meeting H o u s e ' as he was 'a good M o r m o n ' otherwise we would not be able to secure it.

T h e Bishops would (in m o s t cases) n o t let us have it, as we were 'Gentiles,' a n d at that time the Mormons h a d n o use for us."

As examples, the theater was already engaged in Cedar City, but the bishop refused them permission to appear. 'You j o i n the Church, then you can show," he said. In another town, Zamloch rented the thea t e r for t h r e e n i g h t s , b u t t h e b i s h o p limited h i m to o n e n i g h t .

Zamloch apparently did n o t argue or get angry b u t simply " t u r n e d a r o u n d a n d drove out of town. It wouldn't pay us to set u p everything for o n e performance."

Zamloch s p u r n e d the usual M o r m o n system of payment in produce or scrip a n d insisted strictly on cash, adults fifty cents and child r e n twenty-five: We refused to take produce for admission except home made socks, which we could dispose of. Home made candles, chickens, eggs, vegetables and "scrip" of any kind we refused. It was customary in those days in Utah to bring such things to shows for their admission. Most merchants issued "scrip" money. This money was made of brass, about the size of a quarter with the name of the merchant and its value stamped on it, and it was only good for goods in the store. A merchant, for example, would buy a farmer's wheat, and give five cents more (on the hundred weight) than the price quoted in

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the market. But after he had sold his wheat for "scrip" [if he] wanted, say, $40 in cash, he would have to give back to the merchant $100 of his "scrip."

The farmers in Utah at that time were composed of the most ignorant European proselytes to the Mormon Church and were easy to be imposed upon both by the Church and by the merchants.

Zamloch, an i m m i g r a n t himself, makes this j u d g m e n t with n o particular scorn but rather with genial regret. Based on his narrative, he had good reason for his conclusion. For instance, he was frequently "asked to d o s o m e impossible t h i n g . S o m e asked m e to tell t h e m where to locate a m i n i n g claim. O n e m a n said that his b r o t h e r was 'possessed' by the spirits, and asked me to drive them away." T h e n as a n o t h e r example of local gullibility, Zamloch described o n e trick in considerable detail: At our last performance I did a trick in which I got a boy to come on the stage and pretend to give him a lesson in juggling. I take a dinner plate and do different stunts with it, and finish by spinning it on the point of my finger, after which I insist for the boy to try it. He attempts to spin it on the point of his finger (same as he saw me do it), and, of course, drops it, and the plate breaks into many pieces. I pretend to be angry at the boy and scold him for his awkwardness. I compel him to pick up the pieces and wrap them in a newspaper. I then put the parcel into a box, place the box on the boy's head. Billy takes a picture frame in his hand and stands behind the boy. I shoot the pieces out of the box into the picture frame. At the report of the gun the plate appears instantly in the frame. The boy opens the box and finds it empty. But on taking a second look at the plate, I discover that there is a piece missing. I ask the boy whether he was sure that he picked up all the pieces? He, of course, says that he did. I then accuse him of keeping one piece back and hiding it from me. He denies it (by that time the boy is getting angry). I accuse him to have a piece in his pocket and tell him to search his pockets. He does (very reluctantly) and to his astonishment finds the missing piece in his pocket. I pretend to scold him more severely for hiding the piece (and by this time he is ready to fight). I next place the piece into the large mouthed pistol and fire at the plate which instantly becomes whole, and perfectly restored. Then Billy takes it out of the frame and lays it on the table. At the finish I say to the audience, "If you have any broken glass or crockery ware, send it here tomorrow and I will mend it." Of course, anyone with a little intelligence would know that I was joshing. . . .

The next morning while we were packing up three little girls came to the hall. One had a dinner plate with a piece missing, another had a yellow bowl with a whole section gone, the third had a milk pitcher with the handle broken off. "What do you want, little girls?" Billy inquired. "Mama said if you would please mend these dishes?" They had evidently taken me at my word. Billy told them that they were too late, the big pistol was packed away.

The girls reluctantly went away with disappointment.

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In these entertainment-starved small towns, Zamloch's show was an enormous success. "The people began to congregate in front of the door one h o u r before it was time to open it," he remarked. "By seven o'clock there was such a j a m in front of the door that we h a d m u c h difficulty in getting into the hall where there wasn't a back door. T h e same p e o p l e came back the second a n d third time a n d were always pleased with the show."

T h e first e x a m p l e of i n h o s p i t a b l e b e h a v i o r Z a m l o c h r e c o r d s occurred "at a way side hotel . . . on our way to St. George." He does not n a m e the town or the proprietor, so we have n o way of identifying who these surly a n d greedy locals might be: They gave us for supper carrots, potatoes and bacon. The bacon was so salty that we couldn't eat it. Our bed was in the garret with some straw scattered on the floor, with one thin blanket over the straw and another (just as thin) to cover us, but no pillows. A lot of old harness was scattered in one corner, and the biggest part of the floor was covered with onions about a foot deep drying and cobwebs everywhere. The roof was slanting and Billy couldn't raise his head without bumping it against the shingles of the roof as he was lying on the inside. They gave us a half inch piece of home made candle to go to bed by, and no apology for the shortness of it. I pulled a saddle from one corner and put it under my head for a pillow. Billy used his shoes for the same purpose. The driver slept in the stable with the horses, and we wished we did. It was a very cold night, the snow was about three feet deep and still snowing, some of it was blown on us through the cracks in the shingles.

In the morning I asked the landlord where we could wash. He pointed to a pump. It was frozen. After considerable exertion we managed to get a little water out of it. As for a towel, the landlord pointed to a roller towel, but it was not on a roller. It was standing up in a corner like a broom, frozen stiff, and judging by its color it must have been weeks since it had been washed.

We wiped on our handkerchiefs.

We had the same fare for breakfast we had for supper. Billy asked the landlady whether it was left from supper. She turned up her nose and walked out of the room. I asked the landlord what our bill was. He replied, "Supper, lodging and breakfast, a dollar and a half each."

Those people didn't even treat us with respect. We didn't mind so much about the accommodations, if they had treated us civilly, but we were treated like tramps. The woman had a scowl on her face when she waited on us.

Z a m l o c h also r e c o r d e d w a t e r i n g t h e horses at a well o w n e d by a M o r m o n who charged a dollar for each bucket of water.

In contrast, Silver Reef was "like getting back to San Francisco."

Zamloch c o m m e n t e d on the "first class hotels" and the "fresh oysters."

His narrative continues:

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We received a hearty welcome; they were hungry for a show. All the men we did business with were, "Hail fellows well met," and they always met us with a smile.

There we gave three performances and charged civilized prices: reserved seats $1.50; general admission, $1.00; children. $.50, and no one complained at the prices. The theatre was full every performance, and it was a great pleasure to Billy and me to be once more among our own kind of people. It was about Christmas that we were there and the local paper "Silver Reef Miner," the week following our performance said, "Christmas has past and gone, and like Zamloch's tricks, left nought but pleasant recollections."

Zamloch might well have felt he h a d spent Christmas a m o n g holiday folks. Silver Reef was n a m e d for the ledge of light-colored sandstone that "snakes its way" n o r t h a n d west of the little town of Leeds.

Although nineteenth-century mineralogists "did not believe it possible for silver to be found in unaltered sandstone," Silver Reef yielded over $8.5 million in silver between 1872 when the mining district was organized a n d 1908 w h e n t h e m i n e s h u t down. Its best year h a d c o m e earlyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;about 1877 when over $1.1 million worth of ore h a d come out of the ground. 7 It never r e a c h e d that heyday again; b u t in 1882 the area was producing about $700,000 a year, certainly e n o u g h to buy a few oysters a n d fete a visiting magician.

In St. George, fourteen dusty miles away, the advance agent said he had not been allowed to "bill the town." A Mr. Harrison, explained: "My d e a r sir, we c a n n o t let any o n e have the t h e a t r e without references. Have you a letter of r e c o m m e n d a t i o n from Bishop H u n t e r of Salt Lake City?" 8 Z a m l o c h describes this Mr. H a r r i s o n as "a little Englishman, quite gentlemanly a n d well educated for a M o r m o n . . . .

I found him to be a very decent fellow when I knew him better." 9 T h e bemused magician explained: 7 Paul Dean Proctor and Morris A. Shirts, Silver, Sinners, and Saints: A History of Old Silver Reef, Utah (n.p.: Paulmar, Inc., 1991), p. 24. * Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City, 1901), 1:227â&#x20AC;&#x201D;32.

This Bishop Hunter is almost certainly Edward Hunter, the third presiding bishop, who had considerable oversight of the ward bishops scattered throughout Utah during his term of office, April 7, 1851-October 16, 1883. A prosperous Quaker businessman when he join the LDS church in Philadelphia, he was a bishop in both Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, then became bishop of the Thirteenth Ward in Salt Lake City in February 1849. When Newell K. Whitney died in 1850, Hunter was appointed to succeed him. Although I am not aware of his giving traveling entertainers letters of recommendation, he did have corrsiderable correspondence with the bishops, particular during the exchanges of tithing in kind which involved transferring or crediting herds of cattle and loads of wheat throughout the territory.

9 The identity of this "little Englishman" is not clear. The 1880 census of Washington County shows four Harrison men, but none of them lived in St. George. Peter Harrison, age fifty, was a furniture dealer and lived in Silver Reef. The other three lived in Pine Valley. Richard Harrison had been born in England, the only one of the four who could be said to be an "Englishman," but in addition to living in Pine Valley, he was seventy-two. John H. Harrison, age forty-four, was a farmer, and Brigham Harrison, age twenty-two, was a freighter.

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Quarterly

I h a d n o letter of introduction or r e c o m m e n d a t i o n from anyone and never before had I b e e n asked to furnish o n e d u r i n g all my travels.

"How are we to know that your show is respectable?" h e asked. I told him that we played in Salt Lake Theatre a whole week, and that I could show him the clippings from the "Deseret News." T h e n he said, "If you can show m e a complimentary notice from the 'Deseret News' I will believe it." I went back to the wagon, o p e n e d a trunk and took out my scrap book of clippings, a m o n g t h e m were several from the "Deseret News" of Salt Lake City. T h a t p a p e r was a church organ, and all "Good Mormons" had implicit confidence in its saying as that p a p e r was never known to have a good word for a gentile if it could help it.

I r e t u r n e d with the clippings, h a n d e d them to him, and he read them (so did the "rubber necks" over his shoulder). After he finished reading he said, "Yes, these notices are very flattering. But how is o n e to know that it applies to you? Anyone could cut it out of the paper and claim it as his own."

Just t h e n a young m a n j o i n e d the g r o u p . H e must have h e a r d some of the conversation as he said, "Mr. Harrison, I will vouch for this man. I have seen him play in the Salt Lake Theatre. His show is respectable in every way, a n d above the average." T h a t m a n ' s n a m e was Young. H e was r u n n i n g a small printing office and was well connected in St. George. 10 "Mr. Young, if you will vouch for him t h e n it is all right." T h e n to me, "What night d o you wish to play? T h e r e n t is $5 in a d v a n c e . " "I w a n t it for t h r e e n i g h t s , Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday." (This was Sunday afternoon). "No, sir, we cannot p e r m i t you to show m o r e than o n e night," was his answer, and he said it with some heat. "If that is the case, I will trouble you n o further. We cannot afford to set u p this show for o n e night. We will go back," a n d I started for the wagon.

While I was climbing into the wagon I h e a r d the crowd arguing, someo n e said, " R e n t h i m t h e t h e a t r e for t h r e e n i g h t s a n d m a k e h i m pay in advance and the Bishop will forbid everybody to attend m o r e than once."

T h a t advice was n o t i n t e n d e d for m e to hear, b u t they were getting excited a n d talked louder than they thought. Just as I was getting settled in my seat, Mr. Harrison called m e back a n d said, "If I r e n t you the theatre for three nights, will you pay m e $15 in advance?" I told him that I would. "What will you charge for admission?" he asked next. I told him $.50 for adults and "' It is possible that this young printer was Lorenzo Dow Young, the sixth child among Brigham Young's and Emmeline Free Young's ten children. St. George, according to the 1880 census, had ttvo printers: Charles Ellis Johnson and Joseph W. Carpenter. Johnson, then age twenty-three and a native of England, had a nineteen-year-old wife, Ruth Young Johnson, the daughter of Brigham Young and Emmeline Free Young. She had been born March 4, 1861, and at age seventeen married Charles on January 31, 1878. Living with Ruth and Charles at the time the census was taken was Ardelle (name written by the census-taker as "Adella") Young, Ruth's fifteen-year-old sister; so it is possible that another of Ruth's siblings could have been sharing the household two years later and working with her husband.

Ruth had three surviving brothers, two of them already married. The third was Lorenzo Young, born in 1856; he was five years older than Ruth and thus would have been about twenty-four at the time of Zamloch's visit. He had returned from a two-year mission to Europe in 1878 but waited to marry until age forty (1896). As a side note, Ardelle married a man named Frank Harrison. Could he be the "little Englishman"? If so, then the recommendation of his brother-in-law would have cleared the way for Zamloch's magic show.

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$.25 for children. "We can never p e r m i t that. You charge $.25 for adults a n d $.15 for c h i l d r e n . " I d i d n ' t reply to this, b u t started for t h e wagon. They b e g a n to a r g u e again, b u t this time I d i d n ' t h e a r what they said. W r hen I reached my seat on the wagon, Mr. Harrison called m e back once m o r e . H e said, "We have decided to let you charge $.50 a n d $.25 but, of course, o u r town 'scrip'" I asked him what the "scrip" was worth, a n d he answered with some pride, "Our town 'scrip' is worth $.35 on the dollar a n d is as good as gold, a n d in a couple of years will be at par."

At this I was really beginning to lose my temper. I hollered to the driver (who was still on the seat a n d so was Billy), "Turn a r o u n d , we are going back." I started for the wagon again, b u t this time I d i d n ' t i n t e n d to come back in case Harrison c h a n g e d his mind. We were all on the wagon, including the agent. T h e driver h a d already t u r n e d a r o u n d a n d we started off.

Harrison was calling after m e again, b u t we paid n o attention. But on a little piece of raising g r o u n d a block from the starting point, the driver slowed u p a n d H a r r i s o n c a u g h t u p to us a n d was q u i t e o u t of b r e a t h . "Stop j u s t a moment," he said. We stopped. H e said after recovering his breath, "We have come to the conclusion to let you charge whatever you want, as n o o n e will be compelled to attend against his will."

We t u r n e d back, u n l o a d e d at the theatre a n d went to a private hotel which was k e p t by o n e of t h e wives of "Apostle" Snow ( o n e of the twelve apostles of the M o r m o n C h u r c h ) . T h e r e we received good accommodation.

T h e m a n a g e r of the Co-op store came to m e a n d said that h e sold in the store tickets for all the shows that came to St. George. H e said he charged five percent, besides he said, 'You c a n ' t sell t h e m at the d o o r because the people have n o cash. I will have to take p r o d u c e , b u t I will pay you cash for every ticket I sell, less five p e r c e n t commission. A n d f u r t h e r m o r e , all your tickets m u s t b e n u m b e r e d to c o r r e s p o n d with t h e seats in t h e t h e a t r e .

Positively n o o n e is permitted to stand up."

We didn't have any coupon tickets left, but we had some printed by Mr. Young (the m a n who r e c o m m e n d e d the show, a n d h e was also the regular u s h e r ) . Monday m o r n i n g Billy a n d the agent b e g a n to bill the town. Such billing the town had never seen before, and I doubt if it has since. Mr. Young had the tickets printed by ten o'clock. I gave just e n o u g h of them to the store manager to cover every seat. At n o o n all the tickets were sold, and we could n o t sell any m o r e as there were n o m o r e seats, a n d standing u p was prohibited. In the evening when we o p e n e d the doors about two h u n d r e d people, mostly young men, were standing outside without tickets, but with half dollars in their hands ready to pay. But they knew that it was forbidden to stand up.

Still they were ready to try the door keeper when n o town official was near.

Billy, as usual, was at the door, a n d he was n o t a m a n that would refuse m o n e y at the door. Mr. Young (the usher) came along, a n d seeing the big m o b a r o u n d the door, knowing that they h a d n o tickets, a n d fearing that some of t h e m m i g h t try to smuggle in, warned Billy by saying. "Mr. Marx, those m e n outside have n o tickets a n d you must n o t let t h e m in."

T h e first time that Mr. Young left the d o o r to show a couple their seats,

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Quarterly

St. George, Utah, 1876. Will Brooks Collection, USHS. o n e of the young fellows started to go in and offered Billy half a dollar. It was "a feeler" to see whether Billy would take it while the rest were watching the result. Billy t o o k t h e m o n e y a n d shoved t h e m a n inside. Mr. Young, of course, d i d n ' t see it.

From that time on every time Mr. Young's back was t u r n e d Billy took half dollars as fast as they were h a n d e d to him. Finally, Mr. Young saw several p e o p l e standing in different parts of the theatre, r u s h e d over to Billy a n d asked, "Did everybody have a ticket that came in?" "Certainly," he replied. " T h e n there must be a window open," said Young. Just t h e n a large crowd came in with tickets, a n d while Young was sitting them, Billy let in a n o t h e r big b u n c h . Mr. Young noticed that the standing r o o m was being filled m o r e a n d m o r e , c h a n g e d his opinion about some window being o p e n and began to suspect the truth. H e said to Billy somewhat excited,"Mr. Marx, that will never do. W h e r e is Mr. Zamloch?" Billy told him that I was b e h i n d the stage.

H e came r u n n i n g in t h r o u g h the stage d o o r and into my dressing room. H e said with some excitement, "Mr. Zamloch, Mr. Marx is letting in people witho u t tickets." "Tell Mr. Marx that I said that he must n o t let anybody in witho u t tickets," I answered. While Mr. Young was b e h i n d the stage Billy let in everybody. W h e n Mr. Young r e t u r n e d a n d saw every available space filled with p e o p l e standing u p , h e protested n o m o r e . H e saw that there was n o use. Every night after that the side aisles were filled with p e o p l e standing, a n d n o m o r e protests were m a d e by anybody.

Every day before n o o n all the seats were sold. O u r last performance was

A Magician's

View of Utah's Mormons

47

to be on Thursday. A b o u t four o'clock Thursday afternoon, Mr. Harrison came to the hotel to see m e . This is what he had to say, "Mr. Zamloch, all the seats have b e e n sold again for tonight, a n d tonight is your last p e r f o r m a n c e a n d n o t a seat left. T h e r e are quite a n u m b e r of o u r citizens who did n o t have an opportunity to attend your p e r f o r m a n c e , a n d they have asked m e to try to induce you to give o n e m o r e p e r f o r m a n c e tomorrow." I told him that we would with pleasure. . . .

O u r n e x t town was Toquerville. O u r a g e n t wrote t h a t h e h a d m a d e arrangements in a private house for us to stop at as there was n o hotel in the place. We d i d n ' t receive the news very cheerfully for . . . it would be a case of carrots, salty bacon and turnips, same as we got in that way side hotel.

T h e y a r r i v e d after d a r k , a n d it was after n i n e b e f o r e t h e y g o t t h e h o r s e s s t a b l e d . A l o c a l c i t i z e n h e l p e d t h e m f i n d t h e h o m e of " t h e w i d o w M c i n t o s h " w h e r e t h e y w e r e t o stay. Sister M c i n t o s h was a l r e a d y in b e d b u t was a w a k e n e d by t h e travelers. Z a m l o c h r e m e m b e r e d t h e e v e n t as follows: After I told her who we were, she said, "Didn't expect you 'til tomorrow.

Have you had your supper?" (I t h o u g h t she was a little cross.) I told h e r that we didn't, but that we were not h u n g r y (a lie), all we wanted I told her was to b e shown to o u r b e d s . "After I have this fire m a d e I'll t e n d to you." She started to make a fire in the fire place in the parlor.

T h e fire was most welcome as it was a bitter cold night and my feet were nearly frozen. "Warm yourselves by the fire while I get you something to eat." I told her not to put herself out, we would go to bed without supper. "How could you go to sleep without a bite?" [she asked] and left us before a cheerful fire.

T h e r o o m was unlike other M o r m o n houses that we had seen with bare floors and h o m e m a d e furniture with the pictures ofJ o e Smith and Brigham Young hanging on the wall. That room was well furnished, the floor was covered with a thick h o m e m a d e carpet, the furniture was upholstered, a large book case with glass doors a n d well filled with choice books, a ladies writing desk and a cottage organ.

T h e lady came in with an arm full of wood. She said, "If I only knew that you were coming tonight, I would [have] got u p something fit for you to eat, but as it is, you will have to take what I can scrape together." "Mrs. Mcintosh, if you will give us some bread a n d butter a n d a cup of tea is all we want," I said. "Sure, you will n o t get m u c h more," with that she disappeared.

Every time she passed t h r o u g h the room she said, "If I only knew that you were coming tonight," or "I haven't a thing fit for a gentleman to eat," etc. We began to fear that the bacon h a d given o u t a n d that we would get carrots a n d potatoes only. After waiting a b o u t thirty-five m i n u t e s the lady called us, "Gentlemen, your little lunch is ready such as it is. . . .

T h e layout before us [in the d i n i n g r o o m ] was such t h a t it took my breath away. T h e surprise was the greater as we didn't expect anything like it.

I can't explain that supper to d o it justice. T h e table, instead of being covered with oilcloth such as we found in most M o r m o n houses, was covered

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with a white linen table cloth and snow white napkins, china dishes and Roger Bros, silverware, a larger platter of fried chicken, another contained a very large omelet, a dish of fried bacon (not too salty), potatoes mashed with cream, hot biscuits, a pitcher of fresh milk, fresh butter and strong coffee with thick cream. "If I only knew that you were coming tonight I would have prepared something fit to eat," she repeated.

"Madam, I am extremely sorry that we have put you to so much trouble, and so late at night and you need not apologize for this layout. It is the finest and the most tempting supper that we had in the whole of Utah, and it is fit for a king." I meant every word that I said. She replied, "Tomorrow I will try to cook something decent." That surely was an "Oasis in the desert."

Z a m l o c h refers to h e r later as "the k i n d a n d g e n e r o u s Widow Mcintosh," a n d the stay in Toquerville remains a kind of reverently r e m e m b e r e d high point of his tour of southern Utah. "In Tokerville we enjoyed every m i n u t e of our stay. T h e people were very sociable, a n d Mrs. Mcintosh out did herself in providing for us."

Unfortunately, the identity of this hospitable widow of Toquerville remains a mystery. T h e only woman with a similar n a m e recorded in the 1880 census in s o u t h e r n Utah is Widow Mclntire, age sixty-two, but living in Pine Valley.

In c o m p l e t e c o n t r a s t was t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e with hospitality in Centerville, obviously on a n o t h e r trip, since it would have involved a swing t h r o u g h the n o r t h e r n settlements. Zamloch does n o t suggest the time of this tour, b u t it was probably about 1882, the time of his travels through southern Utah as well.

Centerville h a d b e e n founded in the early spring of 1848, about twelve miles n o r t h of Salt Lake City a n d a b o u t half-way b e t w e e n Bountiful a n d F a r m i n g t o n . " Thus, it was m o r e than thirty years old when Zamloch passed through, yet his portrayal of it gives an image of poverty, isolation, and provincialism that seems to belong to a much earlier frontier period.

Centerville h a d n o h o t e l , a n d t h e b i s h o p , whose h o u s e functioned as a sort of inn, was absent for several days. This was probably N a t h a n Cheney, o n e of the original settlers, who h a d b e e n b i s h o p since 1877. Zamloch thought they would have to drive straight on. But "as we drove into town, both sides of the street were lined with people as though they were watching a circus parade." When the manager of 11 Mabel S. Randall, "Centerville," East of Antelope Island, 4th ed. (n.p.: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, North Davis County Company, 1971), pp. 60-73.

A Magician's

View of Utah's Mormons

49

t h e c o - o p s t o r e s a i d t h e r e was n o p l a c e f o r t h e m t o stay, fate i n t e r vened.

Just then a woman across the street held u p her h a n d for us to stop. She came u p to the wagon a n d asked in a shrill voice, "Can't [find a] place t' stop?" She was o n e of those hatchet face women with a sharp pointed nose.

O n e would imagine that those women who were drowned in Salem for witchcraft resembled her. "No," I replied. "We c a n n o t find accommodations and we have to go away without giving a performance." "If ye kin put u p wid what we got ye kin stop wid us," she said. I told her that we would be glad to, b u t I was afraid that it would inconvenience her. She said that it would be n o trouble. I t h a n k e d her, a n d said that we would accept h e r invitation. "Alright, that's my house across the way. I'll call you when supper is ready." T h e n she "scooted" in the snow back to h e r house.

We looked at the house into which she went. It was a small o n e story shack. It d i d n ' t seem to have m o r e t h a n three rooms, b u t we t h o u g h t that there might be some addition to it at the back. We drove to the theatre a n d unloaded. T h e teamster drove to the stable a n d Billy and I started towards the "hotel." I knocked on the front d o o r (which o p e n e d into the kitchen).

T h e lady o p e n e d and said "Supper will be soon ready, t h e n I'll call ye," and shut the d o o r in my face. T h a t m e a n t for us to stand outside in the snow until called.

Billy and I were walking in front of the rickety gate trying to keep warm.

It was very cold, a b o u t two feet of snow on the g r o u n d . It was getting dark and n o sign of supper, t h e n the teamster j o i n e d us, a n d the three of us were walking u p a n d down in snow in front of that shack. After waiting fully o n e h o u r we were called in. T h e supper was laid on the kitchen table which was covered with a red oil cloth. T h e floor was n o t level, u n d e r o n e of the legs of the table was a brick, so as to make the table stand m o r e level. T h e floor was of adobe a n d it h a d several holes in it. . . . T h e supper, shared with the family of six children, consisted of mashed potatoes, h o t biscuits a n d tea, n o butter, n o t even b e a n s , a n d t h e familiar b a c o n was missing. " H e l p yourselves," said the m a n , a n d neither of them apologized for the scantiness of the meal. T h a t looked ominous. They were evidently used to that fare, a n d we couldn't expect anything better the next day. We ate u p everything that was on the table and were still h u n g r y at the end. . . .

"I d o n ' t know what we're goin' to d o about sleepen. Have ye got blankets wid ye?" the w o m a n asked. "No," I replied. "We are n o t p r e p a r e d for camping out. We stop at hotels and they furnish such things."

"I d o n ' t know how we kin fix it. We only have two rooms a n d two beds.

Me and the old man sleep in one bed wid de two boys, and de four girls sleep in de other. But we kin take two girls into our bed and ye kin all squeeze into de o t h e r bed. (That was a h a r d proposition.)

"Madam," I said, "I will tell you what we will d o . If you will furnish us with plenty of wood to keep this stove going, two of us will sleep on the table and o n e on the floor, a n d use our overcoats for blankets. "All right. H e r e is the ax and the wood pile is outside, an I'll get ye a lantern," she said.

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Outside was the wood pile under two feet of snow which consisted of trees of different sizes, just as they were chopped down in the woods and the branches trimmed off and dragged over the snow to the house. The smallest was about the size of a telegraph pole.

After Zamloch kept u p a roaring fire t h r o u g h the first watch, he fell asleep a n d woke to find Billy, w h o h a d t h e s e c o n d watch, warmly wrapped in the curtain from the stage set, sound asleep. Zamloch put on his coat a n d spent the rest of the night walking a r o u n d town to keep warm. H e r e t u r n e d to the house in the m o r n i n g for breakfast a n d recalled this scene: Billy and the driver [were] walking up and down in front of the rusty fence gate waiting for breakfast. . . . [Billy] asked, "Do you think that we will get anything decent for breakfast?" 'Yes, of course," I replied. 'You see the supper last night was their usual fare, and they didn't expect anybody and didn't prepare anything extra. You wait and see the difference this morning."

In about an hour we were called to breakfast. Mashed potatoes, biscuits and coffee without milk and no butter.

Z a m l o c h t h e n went to the g r o c e r y store, b o u g h t t h e only dressed chicken to be had, a n d took it back to his landlady with some butter, a dozen eggs, a n d a great deal of tact. "I was afraid that the lady might be a little sensitive," he explains, "and d i d n ' t wish to have h e r know that we were dissatisfied with the fare." H e told the landlady that h e h a d won the chicken in a raffle a n d was adding it to their dinner fare.

Billy gloomily predicted that the six children would get it all; and sure enough, at n o o n dinner, the father served each of the six children a piece, leaving only a wing tip on the plate for Zamloch.

Zamloch's party survived supper by eating cheese a n d crackers and smoked herrings at the theatre 12 and made an excuse to leave the next day for Ogden, after paying fifty cents apiece per meal and fifty cents for the privilege of sleeping on the floor. Zamloch's arrangem e n t was that the teamster paid his own expenses out of the eight dollars a day, but in this case, Zamloch paid his, too, as "I didn't want him to be imposed u p o n . . . . H e really was a good fellow, even if he was a Mormon."

18 Centerville had no formal theatre during this period; most likely he meant the substantial rock meetinghouse, which had been built a few years earlier in 1879 or, less likely, the stone school/meeting place for the Sunday School and Primary which had been constructed in 1864. Ibid., p. 66. The Young Men's Club, organized in 1872, had built themselves a "substantial rock building known as the Young Men's Hall for a meeting place for study and debates and to house a collection of books." Ibid., p. 67.

Zamloch's references to "the theatre" and its apparent location near the center of town suggest the meetinghouse.

A Magician's View of Utah's Mormons

51

This experience c o n c l u d e d Zamloch's record of his excursions through M o r m o n country. It did not end his travels, of course; and his adventures in Mexico and Hawaii merit additional attention. When he retired, however, he seems to have d o n e it with n o regrets. T h e 1910 census-taker f o u n d An t o n e F. Zamlich [sic] living c o n t e n t e d l y in O a k l a n d , California, at age sixty-one with his wife, Elizabeth, n i n e years his junior. At this point, four children were still apparently contented m e m b e r s of the household: thirty-year-old Antonette, twentysix-year-old Claude, twenty-four-year-old Archie, a n d Carl, age twenty.

Anton died at the age of eighty-three.

Zamloch seems to have been a genial and gentle observer of the M o r m o n scene. His extensive m e m o i r contains not the slightest hint that he knew anything about M o r m o n doctrine or cared to learn. H e evaluates Mormonism by Mormons and how they behaved, and he seld o m indulges in generalizations beyond the individuals he describes.

Instead he leaves us m e m o r a b l e portraitsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the g o u g i n g a n d inhospitable family at the hotel outside St. George, the gratefully remembered Widow Mcintosh of Toquerville, the p o o r but hospitable family of Centerville, a n d his own colorful troupe braving the weather a n d distances to entertain local audiences with wondrous feats of magic.

Charles Kelly photographed this Denis fulien inscription in 1931 when Julian H. Steward took him to the site near the confluence of the Uinta and Duchesne rivers. Note: this and many other historic and prehistoric rock carvings were often enhanced with chalk by photographers, a practice discouraged nowadays. USHS collections.

The Denis Julien Inscriptions

BY JAMES H. KNIPMEYER

T o THE STUDENT OF EARLY WESTERN HISTORY, or of the m o u n t a i n m e n and fur trade in particular, the n a m e Denis Julien may not be known.

But to devotees of Utah historyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially that of the Colorado River region from the 1830s and early '40sâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;his n a m e will perhaps be very familiar. As a trader a n d t r a p p e r Julien was n o t famous like some of his contemporaries such as Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, or even Antoine Leroux and Old Bill Williams. However, what is noteworthy about him was his inclination for carving his n a m e or initials and the date on the rocks a n d canyon walls by which he was traveling.

In Utah at least seven known inscriptions are attributed to Julien, while an eighth o n e is located only a b o u t two miles across the state Mr. Knipmeyer lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

The Denis Julien Inscriptions

53

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Utah Historical Quarterly

line in Colorado. T h e r e are also an additional two reliably reported carvings that have evidently not been seen, or at least not b r o u g h t to the attention of the general public, in recent times. 1 Of the ten writings generally given as having b e e n inscribed by J u l i e n , n o t all are accepted as a u t h e n t i c by historians a n d o t h e r interested parties. At least two of the eight known inscriptions are believed by many to be spurious. Of course, n o determination can be m a d e concerning the two Julien inscriptions n o t seen in recent times.

The facts known about Denis Julien's life and trading and trapping career are few. What is of record concerning him is principally included in two articles. T h e first was by Utah historian Charles Kelly in a 1933 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly. The most complete is by Colorado River historian Otis R. "Dock" Marston a n d appears in the ten-volume set edited by LeRoy R. Hafen, Mountain Men and the Fur Trade. Therefore, just a brief summary of his background will be given here. 2 The first written documentation existent concerning Julien consists of baptismal records from the old Saint Louis Cathedral in Missouri of three children born to him and his wife in 1793, 1798, and 1801. When or where he himself was b o r n and how he came to the Midwest is not known. Based on the baptismal dates of his children, historians estimate that Julien may have b e e n b o r n somewhere between 1771 a n d 1775.

T h e Julien family is known to have been French-Canadian, and more than likely he or his i m m e d i a t e ancestors migrated to the p r e d o m i nantly French town of St. Louis sometime after its founding in 1764.

T h e few records mentioning Julien during the mid-portion of his life are mainly f o u n d in t h e fur t r a d e archives of t h e Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis a n d indicate activity in the midwestern part of what is now the United States. His n a m e appears in the ledgers of St. Louis fur b a r o n Pierre C h o u t e a u in 1803 a n d 1805, the latter instance to trade with the I n d i a n s in present-day Iowa. From 1805 until 1819 he owned property south of Fort Madison. Mention of his trade with the "Ioways" was also m a d e in records for 1807, 1808, and 1810. His n a m e is listed as a witness to the Iowa Treaty of 1815.

In 1816 Julien was granted a license to trade on the Missouri River, 1 An inscription found in Glen Canyon of the Colorado River and now beneath the waters of Lake Powell is sometimes mentioned as possibly having some connection with Denis Julien because of its evident French wording and date: "Ian ce. 1837 V. Lay." All of the Julien inscriptions, however, contain either his name or initials.

2 Unless otherwise noted the biographical information on Julien is based on Charles Kelly, "The Mysterious D. Julien," Utah Historical Quarterly 6 (1933): 83-88; and Otis Dock Marston, "Denis Julien," in LeRoy R. Hafen, ed., The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West (Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H Clark, 1969), 7:177-90.

The Denis Julien Inscriptions c

'

..,

,r<

55 ^4

and that same year he is mentioned as having; sold some furs to Cabanne L/ * 8c Company. The license was renewed (SL '/*ÂŁ& in 1817. In 1819 h e applied to the American Fur C o m p a n y for trade , goods. T h e year 1821 found the n a m e Denis J u l i e n as a property If* * owner in the village of Prairie d u Denis Julien's signature on an 1815 Chien on the Mississippi River in treaty. Courtesy of author. w n a t is now Wisconsin. In 1822 h e again appears in the ledgers of Pierre Chouteau's French Fur Company, this time for the purchase of supplies.

Entries in the post sutler's journal at Fort Atkinson on the Missouri River in present-day Nebraska mention Julien in 1824 and 1825.

T h e 1825 entry, m a d e on D e c e m b e r 26, n o t e d that J u l i e n h a d shot a n d w o u n d e d a n o t h e r m a n . No o t h e r m e n t i o n of Denis Julien appears after this in the Midwest. Sixteen m o n t h s later his n a m e is listed as a m e m b e r of a party led by Francois R o b i d o u x from Taos, New Mexico, to recover s o m e furs c a c h e d in t h e l a n d of t h e U t e Indians. This would have b e e n in what is now western Colorado or e a s t e r n U t a h . P e r h a p s J u l i e n ' s s h o o t i n g scrape at F o r t A t k i n s o n p r o m p t e d a removal to a new territory in the Southwest. H e may have c o m e to t h e Taos a n d Santa Fe a r e a with o n e of t h e fur-trading R o b i d o u x b r o t h e r s , w h o are k n o w n to have led parties from F o r t Atkinson to Santa Fe in 1826.

T h e April 1827 m e n t i o n of Denis J u l i e n ends the "paper trail" that is presently known about him. All other information comes from hearsay a n d his own carved inscriptions. Fortunately for m o d e r n historians, he left several of the latter from which can be traced at least some of his movements.

Ute Indian oral traditions from the Uinta Basin area of northeast Utah claim that in 1828 four men, James a n d William Reed, Auguste Archambeau, and Denis Julien, established a small trading post near the j u n c t i o n of the Whiterocks a n d Uinta rivers. L e n d i n g some support to this story is the presence of the earliest known Julien inscription. It is located ten miles downstream from the Reed trading post, n e a r where the Uinta flows into the present-day D u c h e s n e River. It reads "Denis Julien 1831."

T h o u g h undoubtedly seen before, from the several other names and dates a r o u n d it, in recent times this inscription was first n o t e d by

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J u l i a n H. Steward in 1931 w h o h a d c o m e to t h e n e a r b y town of Whiterocks to attend the annual Sun Dance of the Ute Indians. A few days later he showed it to Charles Kelly, who recognized the name and its significance. It was p h o t o g r a p h e d at this time a n d was first p u b lished in the July 1933 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly. Afterwards it was Kelly w h o first c o n t a c t e d the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis a n d b e g a n the a c c u m u l a t i o n of what little has c o m e to light about the early life of Denis Julien.

In the incised inscription the n a m e Denis is printed in individual capital-style letters. T h e last n a m e J u l i e n has the first four letters printed with only the "J" capitalized. T h e "J" has the commonly used hook at the bottom and cross-bar at the top. T h e last two letters, "en," are carved in script-fashion with the letters j o i n e d together.

In chronological order the next inscription is one dated in 1832.

This is n o d o u b t the least known of the reported Julien inscriptions.

Unfortunately, this particular inscription is also one of the two Julien writings that have not been located or seen in recent times. T h e name and date were first recorded by geologist Grove K. Gilbert in his Field Notebook 1 for 1875. O n page 19 of his notes, u n d e r the date of July 4, o n e entry simply says, "D Julien 10 Mai 1832." Gilbert wrote n o t h i n g else in connection with it, and the notation lay hidden in his notes until they were published by the Geological Society of America in 1988. 5 T h e probable location of the 1832 Julien signature was narrowed to a mile or so stretch of the canyon of Ivie Creek, some e i g h t e e n miles southwest of Emery, Utah, by making use of the brief entries in Gilbert's field notes. A good campsite has b e e n found on the south side of Ivie C r e e k with an o u t c r o p p i n g of rock c o n t a i n i n g several inscriptions, one dating back into the 1870s, but n o Julien was located.

If it was here at o n e time, it has evidently weathered away as the 1875 one is even now in the process of doing. Either the inscription has simply b e e n missed, it has eroded away, or perhaps it was destroyed duri n g r o a d c o n s t r u c t i o n of e i t h e r U.S. Highway 50 or its successor, Interstate 70, both of which traverse the canyon. 4 Since the only report of the 1832 Julien inscription comes from the 1875 entry of Gilbert, there is no way of knowing anything about its general appearance or style. Significantly, however, o n e important 3 Charles B. Hunt, Geology of the Henry Mountains, Utah, as Recorded in the Notebooks of G. K. Gilbert, 1875-76, Geological Society of America Memoir 167 (Boulder, Colo., 1988), p. 27.

4 Steven Reneau of Los Alamos, New Mexico, recognized the name "D Eulien" (sic) and contacted the editor of Gilbert's notebooks. Hunt conducted and initiated several searches for the historic inscription without success.

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The Denis Julien Inscriptions

detail can be inferred. Gilbert's original entry r e n d e r s the n a m e "D Eulien." This was obviously a misreading of the old style block French "J" which is written like a capital "I" with a horizontal line through the center. It is easy to see how this could be mistaken for an "E." Unlike the above Julien inscription, the next is probably the most often seen a n d well known. Located near the m o u t h of Hell Roaring Canyon, a t r i b u t a r y of t h e G r e e n River in Labyrinth Canyon, this inscription includes Julien's n a m e a n d the day, m o n t h , a n d year he carved it: "D. Julien 3 Mai 1836." Unlike any of the other inscriptions

,s

Site of Julien's May 3, 1836, inscription in Hell Roaring Canyon and closeup of it. USHS collections.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

attributed to him, however, this o n e is also accompanied by a crude cutting of what a p p e a r s to be a boat with a mast a n d a n o t h e r enigmatic symbol that has b e e n variously interpreted to be a flying sun or a bird in flight.

In late March a n d early April of 1893 the steamboat Major Powell made a trial voyage from near the town of Green River, Utah, down to Spanish Bottom on the Colorado River and then returned. William H. Edwards, who was in charge of the steamer, wrote to Colorado River voyager and historian Robert B. Stanton in 1908 stating that it was on this trip that he first saw the Julien inscription cut on the wall of Hell Roaring Canyon. 5 T h e first published p h o t o g r a p h of the inscription was taken by Ralph G. Leonard in 1904 and appeared in the August 1905 issue of Outing Magazine.

Two particular characteristics in the n a m e Julien should be noted in the Hell Roaring inscription. T h e capital letter "J" is carved like the old style block letter, looking like a combination capital letter "I" and "E." T h e letters "J, u, 1, i" are incised separately, while the "e" a n d "n" are j o i n e d together in script fashion.

Thirteen days later Julien carved his next inscription, again along the Green River, upstream from Bowknot Bend. This o n e reads "D. Julien 16 Mai 1836." After his recognition of the "Denis Julien 1831" inscription n e a r Whiterocks, Charles Kelly h a d c o r r e s p o n d e d with Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Colorado River historian a n d m e m b e r of Maj. J o h n Wesley Powell's s e c o n d e x p e d i t i o n down the G r e e n a n d Colorado river canyons in 1871-72. Replying to Kelly, Dellenbaugh i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e 16 Mai J u l i e n i n s c r i p t i o n h a d b e e n f o u n d by prospectors. 6 This find must have been sometime between April 1893 and March 1895, for, as indicated above, William H. Edwards claimed to have seen the Hell Roaring Julien inscription in 1893. However, in an interview in Denver's Rocky Mountain News on March 10, 1895, he stated that there were three Julien inscriptions found on the cliffs of the Green River, evidently including the o n e of 16 Mai. Dock Marston's biography ofJulien includes an illustration of the inscription above Bowknot Bend. T h e caption indicates that it was sketched by Dellenbaugh from an R. G. L e o n a r d p h o t o g r a p h . This 5 Edwards's statement was made in response to a November 2, 1908, letter from Stanton requesting information on "the two inscriptions of D. Julien," and is now located in the Stanton Collection at the New York City Public Library. The actual 1908 letter from Edwards is no longer existent, but its contents are quoted in Stanton's unpublished manuscript "The River and the Canyon."

6 Frederick S. Dellenbaugh to Charles Kelly, August 23, 1931, Kelly Collection, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

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Julien 5 May 16, 1836, inscription.

USHS collections.

would seem to indicate that Leonard p h o t o g r a p h e d both the 3 Mai and the 16 Mai Julien inscriptions during his 1904 river trip. A photograph of the 16 Mai inscription is on file at the Utah State Historical Society in Salt Lake City with a n o t a t i o n c r e d i t i n g "J. Stone-1909."

However, the diaries and journals of members ofJulius S. Stone's 1909 Green and Colorado river expedition make no mention of this inscription, only the o n e lower downstream near the m o u t h of Hell Roaring Canyon.

In the 16 Mai inscription the capital letter "J" has the m o r e comm o n h o o k at the bottom. T h e "J, u, 1," a n d "i" a p p e a r to be p r i n t e d letters (although chalk e n h a n c e m e n t has created some ambiguity), while the, "e" and the "n" are connected script style.

T h e n e x t i n s c r i p t i o n may or n o t be in c o r r e c t c h r o n o l o g i c a l order. It is the o t h e r carving along with the o n e r e p o r t e d along Ivie Creek Canyon, that has not been seen, or at least reported, in this century. Its exact wording is n o t known, a n d even its supposed location has been the subject of m u c h debate.

In the 1908 letter from William H. Edwards to Robert B. Stanton m e n t i o n e d earlier, Edwards also stated that it was on the March-April 1893 cruise of the steamboat Major Powell that h e first saw the Julien i n s c r i p t i o n b e t w e e n four a n d five miles above t h e h e a d of t h e Colorado in Stillwater Canyon. This then, along with the 3 Mai and 16 Mai inscriptions, would be the third Julien cutting that Edwards said was to be found on the cliffs of the Green River in his Rocky Mountain News interview of 1895.

In neither source, however, does Edwards give an exact rendering as to how this inscription read. In the 1931 letter from Dellen-

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baugh to Kelly, Dellenbaugh indicated that the inscription read only "D. J u l i e n 1836." H e also stated that it h a d b e e n found by o n e Lee Valentine, who then told Edwards about it. Valentine was briefly a settlerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from August 1892 to September 1893â&#x20AC;&#x201D;on what is now known as Valentine Bottom on the Green River. As far as recorded information is concerned, the 1893 sighting by the crew of the Major Powell was the last time this inscription was seen. T h e r e are n o known photographs or sketches of it.

Edwards, in a March 11, 1907, letter, gave the location of this inscription as four or five miles u p the Green River "on the right shore going down [river]. . . ." In the 1908 letter already cited, he adds that it is "on the west wall. . . ." T h e r e f o r e , of course, efforts to locate it have c o n c e n t r a t e d on t h e west b a n k of t h e river in the vicinity of Water C a n y o n . But in a 1981 l e t t e r t h e acting s u p e r i n t e n d e n t of Canyonlands National Park, in which the inscription is purportedly located, related an i n t r i g u i n g point. In re-examining the old p u b lished report of the sighting, a researcher (not n a m e d ) realized that the boat was moving upstream a n d the observer probably m e a n t his right, which would be the east bank. Careful searches have now been m a d e on both sides of the river but have not been successful. 7 A b o u t eight river miles downstream from the above-discussed inscription is a n o t h e r that is often debated by river historians a n d aficionados. High u p the talus slope below the m o u t h of Lower Red Lake Canyon, scratched very faintly on o n e side of a huge rock boulder, is the n a m e "Denis J u " with a date of 1836. Denis a n d the first part of the last n a m e can be m a d e out, b u t the e n d i n g is now illegible.

Below t h e n a m e s are s o m e o t h e r m a r k i n g s t h a t can n o l o n g e r be deciphered. O n a third line, a n d very readable, however, is the year 1836.

This inscription was b r o u g h t to light in recent times a n d m a d e public knowledge in the s u m m e r of 1973. Mark Lindquist of Oregon, a m e m b e r of a Student Conservation Aid group that was working on the Lower Red Lake Canyon trail, found the inscription and showed it to National Park Service rangers the following day.8 However, it seems to have b e e n known, at least to a few, long before this time.

7 A historian from California who researched the history of the Canyonlands area during the 1970s stated unequivocally in a 1980 letter that the Denis Julien inscription had not really been lost, only to historians. He claimed knowledge of one commercial river-running operation that had been showing the inscription to its customers for several years. John F. Hoffman to the author, February 20, 1980, in author's possession.

8 Ken Mabery, National Park Service, to the author, December 15, 1977.

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61

In his b o o k A Canyon Voyage, p u b l i s h e d in 1908, D e l l e n b a u g h mentions what is evidently this inscription twice. Speaking of the 3 Mai D. Julien carving, he states that the same inscription was also found just below the m o u t h of Grand River. Prior to 1921 the junction of the Green and Grand rivers in southeastern Utah formed the Colorado.

After that date the Grand's n a m e was c h a n g e d to the Colorado a n d "added" to the original. A few pages later in the book, in telling of his e x p e d i t i o n ' s c a m p at the j u n c t i o n of the rivers a n d their passing a "singular canyon" on the left, or east side (present Lower Red Lake Canyon), Dellenbaugh notes that later the n a m e "D. Julien-1836" was found near this point.

River-runner Harry L. Aleson possibly saw the inscription in 1951.

In his diary e n t r y for S e p t e m b e r 6, h e says: "I drift down to top of Rapid No. 1 . . . Scout & find shelter rings, Moki campsite. O n largest rockâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to left of top of Rapid No. 1 is faint record of Julien visit in Mai 1836. . . ."!) This appears to match, in some respects, the location a n d a p p e a r a n c e of the J u l i e n inscription described above. But it is precisely this location a n d appearance that cause some researchers a n d historians to question its authenticity.

First of all, each of the o t h e r Julien writings along the Green or Colorado rivers is located low down, close to river level. Except for the 1831 inscription n e a r Whiterocks a n d the 3 Mai inscription at Hell Roaring Canyon, all of them are found near the shore. Even in these two instances they are inscribed on the first good rock surfaces away from the river shore across bottomlands. T h e inscription below the m o u t h of Lower Red Lake Canyon is n o t far back from the river itself but is located close to 600 feet above it, near the top of the talus slope.

Second, unlike all of the other Julien inscriptions discussed so far, the name here is entirely d o n e in script. Unfortunately, the letters "en" in the last n a m e can n o longer be m a d e out, so it c a n n o t be seen if they are in the same style as the o t h e r inscriptions. Also, the o t h e r J u l i e n inscriptions have b e e n clearly a n d deeply incised i n t o their respective rock faces, while this o n e has b e e n b u t lightly scratched onto the surface of the boulder.

O n e river historian contends that perhaps Julien climbed u p to this spot to have a view downriver. 10 From here the first three rapids of 9 Typescript copy of diary entitled "Notes on Green River Trip," Aleson Collection, Utah State Historical Society. "'John F. Hoffman to the author,June 14, 1978, in author's possession.

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Cataract Canyon can be seen. Unlike the sites of the o t h e r inscriptions, whose locations would have m a d e them good campsites with a corresponding availability of time for leisurely engraving, Julien would n o t have c a m p e d here. Rather, h e would have m a d e his camp down by the river. This was simply an observation point for the river downstream. H e would not have spent m u c h time here, but perhaps u p o n seeing the prehistoric petroglyphs carved on o n e side of the rock boulder he might have hastily a d d e d his n a m e and the date.

T h e n e x t Julien inscriptionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;located the farthest downstream along the Green-Colorado river system of those commonly accepted by most historiansâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;was actually the first to be discovered. It was seen by railroad surveyor Robert B. Stanton and two companions on J u n e 20, 1889. It was sketched, somewhat inaccurately, by Stanton in his field notes, 11 but evidently was seen only twice after that time, in 1891 and again in 1921. Not until April 3, 1964, was it relocated a n d first photographed by Dock Marston and the other two members of his party.

This Julien inscription was located in the lower part of Cataract Canyon along the east bank of the Colorado River not far below the m o u t h of Cove Canyon. It is now covered by the waters of Lake Powell.

The rising of the reservoir water behind Glen Canyon Dam prompted the search by the Marston party. From its first sighting during high water in the s u m m e r of 1889, it was generally believed that the inscription could only have been carved from a boat. But at lower water levels in either spring or fall it could have been easily placed from above a dry sandbar, which in turn would have been a quite adequate campsite.

T h e Cataract Canyon inscription read simply, "1836 D. Julien."

T h e 1889 Stanton sketch shows the characteristic individual, printed letter style, with the old-fashioned French capital "J." It also shows the concluding "e" and "n" as being separate from o n e another. However, the 1964 photographs taken by the Marston party clearly show the "e" a n d "n" j o i n e d together in the usual script style.

T h e three remaining Julien inscriptions are all located higher u p in the Green-Colorado river system. T h e carving in Desolation Canyon of the Green River has b e e n cut into a face of a h u g e talus b o u l d e r near the m o u t h of Chandler Canyon, an eastern tributary. It seems to have first b e e n d e s c r i b e d in a l e t t e r from G e o r g e E. Stewart of Roosevelt, Utah, to Dock Marston dated August 29, 1967. l2 Stewart had 11 12

Stanton Collection.

Marston Collection, Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

The Denis Julien Inscriptions

63

:i

1836 D. Julien inscription in lower |ÂŁ Cataract Canyon. Courtesy of author.

been down to the m o u t h of Chandler Canyon "over the past weekend" a n d located the inscription then. Evidently, though, h e h a d first seen it sometime earlier, for h e also comments that Julien h a d n o t carved his full n a m e there "as my m e m o r y said it did," just initials.

T h e Desolation Canyon inscription, in fact, does consist only of the initials "D J." There is n o date of any kind. T h e inscription is attributed to Julien because the style of lettering is characteristic of many of his other carvings; i.e., the block letter style a n d the old-fashioned T h e highest upstream inscription is located in u p p e r Whirlpool Canyon of the Green River, just a couple of miles below Echo Park in D i n o s a u r N a t i o n a l M o n u m e n t . This is t h e only J u l i e n inscription known at the present time that is located outside of Utah. It is situated in a small alcove that is now almost completely screened from the river by tamarisk. Before t h e a d v e n t of this exotic s h r u b , however, t h e alcove would have provided a good campsite for a river voyager.

A worker on the then-proposed Echo Park damsite in the 1950s noted the inscription, b u t n o t until August 1975 did two National Park Service employees, Glade Ross a n d Steve Petersburg, find the marking by utilizing the 1950 notes. 13 T h e inscription consists of the initials "D J" a n d about two feet away the date of "1838." Once again, the "J" is carved in the old fashioned manner.

Chronologically, the last Julien inscription is located in the Devils Garden section of Arches National Park, n o r t h of Moab, Utah. This inscription gives the full n a m e "Denis Julien" a n d a date reading "9 6re 1844." It was seen a n d reported in recent times by National Park 13 Dennis B. Davies, Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, to the author November 11, 1977, in author's possession.

Utah Historical Quarterly

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1838 inscription with only initials is located in upper Whirlpool Canyon.

Courtesy of author.

Service r a n g e r J i m Stiles in July 1977." However, o t h e r n a m e s a n d dates incised i n t o t h e same rock face show that it was seen several times between 1892 a n d the mid-1940s. But these individuals evidently attached n o significance to the inscription and made n o report of it.

T h e Devils Garden of Arches is a ridge topped by row u p o n row of huge, parallel sandstone fins, b o u n d e d on the west by the sunken trough of Salt Valley. It is on a flat, desert-varnished surface near the base of o n e of these fins that the Julien and other carvings are found.

T h e spot is blocked off from Salt Valley by a line of sand hills.

Along with the o n e below Lower Red Lake Canyon, this inscription is p e r h a p s the most hotly d e b a t e d . O n e p o i n t of c o n t e n t i o n is that the Arches inscription is located a b o u t fifteen miles in a direct line from the Colorado River. Except for the Ivie Creek Canyon sign a t u r e , all of the o t h e r J u l i e n inscriptions are found within two or t h r e e h u n d r e d yards of a large flowing s t r e a m . Even t h e 1831 Whiterocks carving was very n e a r the Uinta River, a tributary of the Denis Julien in script in Arches National Park is dated 1844.

Courtesy of author.

Otis R. "Dock" Marston to the author, September 13, 1977, in author's possession.

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Green. T h o u g h the floor of Salt Valley is only a half-mile away, in the Devils Garden area that wash carries r u n n i n g water only after a rainstorm. But the wide, o p e n valley does offer an easy avenue of travel s o u t h e a s t from t h e G r e e n River-Tavaputs Plateau a r e a to t h e Colorado by way of either Salt Wash or Cache Valley. T h e inscription site itself would make a good sheltered, but dry, campsite, as attested to by the others who have left their names there.

T h e Arches inscription is similar to that below Lower Red Lake Canyon, not only in that it gives the full n a m e Denis Julien but also in that it is incised into the rock surface in script rather than printed style.

Because it is not d o n e in the c o m m o n fashion of the other signatures a n d because it is n o t located in an area similar to that of the o t h e r inscriptions, this is thought by some to be a fake made in recent times.

T h e r e is, however, o n e very good a r g u m e n t against this assumption: the "desert varnish" into which the J u l i e n a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g inscriptions are incised. T h e formation of the chemical c o m p o u n d m a n g a n e s e dioxide on the surface of the sandstone creates this socalled desert varnish. As time passes it becomes progressively darker as m o r e manganese dioxide is deposited. Therefore, on a single, relatively small rock surface, exposed to the same a m o u n t of weather and weathering, the darker the desert varnish the older it is.

O n the desert varnished surface at the base of the sandstone fin in Devils Garden, a simple comparison can be m a d e between the prehistoric Anasazi petroglyphs, the 1844 Denis Julien inscription, and an inscription dated 1892. Simply put, the Anasazi petroglyphs are darker than the Julien, a n d the 1892 inscription is lighter. T h e Julien must, therefore, be o l d e r t h a n 1892, a n d thus the possibility of its b e i n g placed there spuriously is greatly diminished.

Among the many questions concerning Denis Julien, two are the most intriguing. First, are all of the inscriptions attributed to Julien authentic, or are some of them hoaxes? Second, what eventually happ e n e d to this little-known individual?

Of the ten signatures accepted by at least some writers and historians, it is probable that any or all of t h e m could have been d o n e by the h a n d of Denis Julien. Even with their unusual locations, the two most questionable inscriptions, those below Lower Red Lake Canyon and in the Devils Garden area of Arches, could have been done by him.

Most of the a r g u m e n t s a m o n g Colorado River historians, b o t h professional and amateur, as to the authenticity of the various Julien inscriptions revolve around the style of writing or carvingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;printed let-

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ters as opposed to script. These arguments are in n o way conclusive, t h o u g h , because in t h e four most a c c e p t e d inscriptions—in lower Cataract Canyon, Hell Roaring Canyon, above the Bowknot, and near Whiterocks—Julien was not even consistent in how he made the capital letter "J." T h e first two were done in the old-fashioned style and the last two with the hooked bottom. Yet the authenticity of these four has not been questioned. All of the inscriptions with the full last name of Julien are consistent in rendering the last two letters, "en," in script fashion.

As for script or printing, it is e n l i g h t e n i n g to c o m p a r e the two known written (on paper, as o p p o s e d to stone) signatures of Denis Julien with the carvings below Lower Red Lake Canyon and in Arches.

O n September 16, 1815, Julien was one of a dozen witnesses to a treaty m a d e with the Iowa tribe of Indians at Portage des Sioux in eastern Missouri. His name, while written very small a n d now faint, is clearly identical in style to the two above carvings.

O n December 24, 1821, Julien was one of a n u m b e r of signees of a petition to the U.S. Congress from the inhabitants of the town of Prairie d u Chien in what was then Michigan Territory, asking for protection from confiscation of their land titles. Julien's signature on this d o c u m e n t is also extremely close to those carved in script fashion on sandstone in p r e s e n t southeastern Utah, the only difference b e i n g that the capital "J" is completely different from any of his ten incised signatures. This emphasizes the fact that he was not consistent in his written or incised rendering of the "J" of his surname. 1 5 Not previously discussed are the characteristic styles of two of the numerals in Julien's dates—the " 1 " a n d the " 3 . " In every case where one or both of these numbers was carved, they were d o n e in the same way. T h e " 1 " invariably was made with a short stroke affixed to the top of the numeral. T h e same is true of the "3," where the stroke is always placed at the beginning of the top loop. What is not consistent, even a m o n g the "accepted" four, a n d even occasionally within the same inscription, is the placement or absence of a horizontal foot at the base of the " 1 . " Therefore, on the basis of style, workmanship, and location, n o n e of the ten Julien inscriptions can be proven as genuine or false.

As for what h a p p e n e d to Julien after the carving of his last known inscription in Arches in 1844, there is o n e intriguing bit of information. In an interview conducted in May 1976 with Dock Marston, one 15 Photostatic copies of the Treaty with the Iowa, 1815, and the Petition to Congress by inhabitants of Prairie du Chien, 1821, were obtained from the National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C.

The Denis Julien Inscriptions

67

Denis Julien's signature on an 1821 petition. Courtesy of author.

of the interviewers, J o h n F Hoffman, commented that newspaperman Lute J o h n s o n reported that Julien became a California pioneer, died, a n d was buried there. J o h n s o n even said that he was listed in a directory in California. Hoffman was evidently referring to an October 2, 1938, Denver Post article. In it J o h n s o n mentions a brief record of "de Julien" in biographical dictionaries in which he is called a Canadian voyageur who died in California. Hoffman himself stated he was not able to find Julien listed in any type of directory. 16 So what did ultimately b e c o m e of Denis Julien? From the information known at the present time this question cannot be positively answered. However, from what is known about his life, the regions he frequented, his c o n t e m p o r a r i e s , a n d events that were taking place a r o u n d him at the time, a possible scenario can be postulated.

T h r o u g h o u t his life, from t h e baptismal r e c o r d s in St. Louis, Missouri, to at least 1844 in eastern Utah, Julien seems to have been in c o n t a c t with the R o b i d o u x family. H e a d e d by p a t r i a r c h J o s e p h Robidoux II, the French-Canadian family h a d migrated from Quebec to St. Louis by 1771. There M. Robidoux entered into the burgeoning fur trade. So both the Robidouxs a n d Julien were engaged in the fur trade; they were in St. Louis at the same time; a n d in that close-knit French colony of the late 1700s and early 1800s they could not have helped but know of o n e another.

J o s e p h Robidoux h a d six sons, all of whom engaged in the fur trade to o n e extent or another. Joseph III, in partnership with Pierre C h o u t e a u , t r a d e d with the "Ioways" j u s t as J u l i e n did. In 1819 h e established a fort or t r a d i n g post on the west side of the Missouri "' In an August 20, 1968, letter from George E. Stewart of Roosevelt, Utah, to Otis R. Marston, Stewart stated that a Mrs. Denver had told him that she had located definite information that Julien was alive after 1836. Unfortunately, no such nraterial was ever forthcoming.

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River across from present-day Council Bluffs. At that time Julien was also trading on the Missouri. T h e post was taken over in 1823 by J e a n P i e r r e C a b a n n e with w h o m J u l i e n h a d d e a l i n g s earlier. F o r t Robidoux, or C a b a n n e ' s Post as it came to be called, was j u s t a few miles below Fort Atkinson where Julien transacted business in 1824 a n d 1825.

As mentioned earlier, Julien may have gone to New Mexico sometime in 1826 with one of the Robidoux brothers. Antoine, Michel, and Isidore all are known to have m a d e trips from the Council Bluffs-Fort Atkinson area to Santa Fe in that year. 17 Also, as stated earlier, it is known that J u l i e n a c c o m p a n i e d a party led by Francois R o b i d o u x from Taos in 1827 to recover some cached furs.

In 1838 A n t o i n e R o b i d o u x established a t r a d i n g post usually known as Fort Uintah, near present-day Whiterocks, Utah. According to Ute Indian oral traditions, the basis for this post was the already established Reed trading post, supposedly f o u n d e d by Denis Julien and three others in 1828. But perhaps Julien continued to stay in the area. In 1842 a missionary on the way from Oregon wrote in his diary of a t t e m p t i n g to p r e a c h at F o r t U i n t a h to a c o m p a n y i n c l u d i n g "French." 18 Later the same year a traveler stopping over at the post recorded in his j o u r n a l that trade was conducted principally with trappers f r e q u e n t i n g the G r e e n , G r a n d , a n d C o l o r a d o rivers a n d their tributaries. 19 According to his carved inscriptions, this is precisely what Julien was doing.

In late September 1844 another of Robidoux's trading posts, Fort U n c o m p a h g r e o n t h e G u n n i s o n River of w e s t e r n C o l o r a d o , was attacked by Ute Indians. T h e o n e American present was spared a n d sent to Fort Uintah to tell the people there to a b a n d o n the post. This was promptly d o n e . But the trouble with the Utes had actually begun back in the fall of 1843 when a company of New Mexican volunteers, after an unsuccessful raid against Navajos, h a d evidently vented their frustrations by falling u p o n a n d killing ten friendly Utes a n d taking three others captive. 20 This may explain the location ofJulien's September 1844 inscription in Arches. As a veteran frontiersman traveling through territory 17

Marston, "Denis Julien," 7:184.

Joseph Williams, A Narrative of a Tour from the State of Indiana to the Oregon Territory in the Years 1841-42 (Cincinnati, 1843), pp. 80-84.

19 Rufus B. Sage, Scenes in the Rocky Mountains . . . (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 182.

-'"Janet Lecompte, Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: The Upper Arkansas, 1832-1856 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978), pp. 137-38.

18

The Denis Julien Inscriptions

69

inhabited by unfriendly Indians he would have trod warily a n d perhaps chosen to avoid the usual trails crossing the Colorado River at e i t h e r t h e present-day sites of M o a b , U t a h , or G r a n d J u n c t i o n , Colorado. F u r t h e r m o r e , when making camp he would have probably taken the precaution of not staying in the open area of Salt Valley but moving instead to the nearby but shielded spot by the sandstone fins of Devils Garden.

Soon after the a b a n d o n m e n t of Fort Uintah, Antoine Robidoux moved back to his brother's trading post on the Missouri River at what would eventually b e c o m e St. J o s e p h . A n o t h e r b r o t h e r , Louis, h a d gone to California in 1843 a n d purchased land there. In the s u m m e r of 1844 he r e t u r n e d to Santa Fe for his family. They left for California for the final time in November of that year.

Based on the baptismal dates of his children, in the fall of 1844 Denis Julien would have very likely been a r o u n d seventy years of age.

Fort Uintah had b e e n a b a n d o n e d and Antoine Robidoux was preparing to r e t u r n to Missouri. Louis Robidoux, o n the o t h e r h a n d , was moving on to California. It is certainly possible, therefore, based on s u r r o u n d i n g circumstances and the single reference to his listing in a biographical dictionary, that Denis Julien could have accompanied the Louis Robidoux family, lived out the remaining span of his life, a n d died in California.

Plum Alley in downtown Salt Lake City was the heart of Chinatoxon in Utah's capital. This photograph by Shipler was taken August 24, 1907. USHS collections.

Utah's Chinatowns: The Development and Decline of Extinct Ethnic Enclaves

BY DANIEL LIESTMAN

the transcontinental railroad are legendary. Too often, though, this is the only context in which the Chinese are mentioned as a component of Utah's history.1 T H E LABORS OF THE CHINESE IN CONSTRUCTING

Mr. Liestman is the bibliographic specialist for the social sciences at Seattle Pacific University.

1 Exceptions include "The Early Chinese of Western United States" in Kate B. Carter, ed., Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols. (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958-77), 10:429-81; Don C. Conley, "The Pioneer Chinese of Utah" in The Peoples of Utah, ed. Helen Z. Papanikolas (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1976), pp. 251-77; Don C. Conley, "The Pioneer Chinese of Utah" (MA. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1976)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;all subsequent references to Conley's work are to this thesis; Lester A. Hubbard, "John Chinaman in the West," Western Humanities Review A (1950): 311-21; Dean L. May, Utah: A People's History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987), pp. 141-55; Leslie G. Kelen and Sandra T Fuller, eds., The Other Utahns: A Photographic Portfolio (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988), pp. 48-61.

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In fact, the driving of the golden spike marks the beginning of a distinctive element in Utah's history. Following events at Promontory in 1869, most Chinese began congregating in Chinatowns that coexisted within a n u m b e r of Zion's towns a n d cities. T h e largest such enclave was in Salt Lake City with others in Ogden, Corinne, Park City, Silver Reef, a n d elsewhere.

T h e Chinese a d d e d an interesting element to Utah's ethnic mix which o t h e r w i s e consisted largely of those of E u r o p e a n d e s c e n t .

Reactions to the Chinese varied. Some Euro-American groups took p a r t i c u l a r e x c e p t i o n to t h e p r e s e n c e of t h e C h i n e s e while o t h e r s remained less interested. In particular those who found themselves in the lower echelons of the social-economic hierarchy seemed particularly interested in distancing themselves from the Chinese whom they perceived as rivals. T h e antipathy of the Irish for the Chinese is well known a n d u n d e r s c o r e d by the violence that o c c u r r e d between the two groups during the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

O t h e r g r o u p s , such as Italians a n d Slavs, often c a m e to U t a h as unskilled laborers and sought to be portrayed as superior to and distinct from the Chinese. This did not always occur. Miners at one camp b a n n e d b o t h Chinese a n d Italians from their diggings. 2 In spite of their own diversity, most white residents of Utah t e n d e d to view the Chinese as a faceless, if n o t nameless, seemingly indistinguishable group of people who tended to cluster in predominantly white communities. Members of many minority cultures engaged in such behavior. As a result, Salt Lake City not only h a d a Chinatown b u t a Little Denmark in its Second Ward. 3 Across Utah there were Greek Towns, Bohunk Towns for Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and Little Italys a m o n g others. Due to obvious racial and cultural differences Chinese enclaves formed a readily identifiable b u t unassimilable a n d short-lived prese n c e . A l t h o u g h some 5,000 Chinese c u r r e n t l y live in the state, n o C h i n a t o w n s r e m a i n . 1 This p a p e r e x p a n d s on existing r e s e a r c h by examining the d e v e l o p m e n t of Utah's Chinatowns, the response to these settlements, a n d their demise. Implicit in this thesis is an obvious deficiencyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the lack of a Chinese perspective. Such an admittedly unbalanced approach, however, reflects the nature of extant primary source materials rather than a deliberate oversight or agenda.

2

Salt Lake Tribune, May 11, 1882; Ogden Standard, January 19, 1902, September 1, 1891.

William Mulder, "Scandinavian Saga" in The Peoples of Utah, p. 172. ' U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing, Summary Tape File 1 A, Utah.

3

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Initially, Chinese in the territory avoided white settlements as they lived in dugouts or tents along rail lines, working as section crews or station cooks. A few e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l ones operated laundries that followed work crews. 5 Only gradually did they begin to move into predominantly white settlements. Although Utah's white residents could n o t h e l p b u t be aware of the anti-Chinese attitudes reaching across the nation, local opinion leaders nevertheless did n o t initially object to the Chinese living a m o n g them. James H. Beadle of Corinne's Utah Reporter declared the so called "Chinese problem" to be n o t h i n g b u t "baseless political h u m b u g , " declaring, "We n e e d large n u m b e r s in this Territory." In the Salt Lake Herald, William C. D u n b a r viewed the t h r e a t of C h i n e s e l a b o r as "overrated," while t h e M o r m o n Deseret Evening News lauded the Chinese as h a r d working, skillful, a n d intelligent, adding, "There is probably n o people on the c o n t i n e n t who are likely to be less disturbed or affected by the introduction . . . of this e l e m e n t [ t h e C h i n e s e ] t h a n t h e p e o p l e of U t a h . " F r a n k l i n Richards's Ogden Junction was less effusive. H e considered the Chinese to be "heathens a n d barbarians" but cheerfully a d d e d that they were n o worse so than many E u r o p e a n immigrants or Americans for that matter. 6 With the completion of the transcontinental line the Chinese and other railroad laborers began settling in Bear River Valley towns such as C o r i n n e a n d in o t h e r railroad towns before moving on to places like Salt Lake City. Not until 1882 did the Deseret Evening News first m e n t i o n a "Chinese quarter" in that city. Prior to that the Salt Lake Tribune h a d observed that the Chinese were "rather backward about e n t e r i n g M o r m o n d o m . " Available census information confirms the gradual clustering of Chinese in specific cities. Admittedly, such data are fallible. N o n e t h e l e s s , by using Box Elder, Salt Lake, Weber, Washington, a n d Summit counties as examples some general trends can be seen. T h e 1870 census reported a total of 445 Chinese in Utah 5 John Simpson Ross, Crossing the Continent by Rail in 1869 (Fort Bragg, Calif.: Mendocino County Historical Society, 1969), p. 17; Adolph Reeder, "This Is Promontory as I Remember It," MS at Golden Spike National Historic Site, Promontory, Utah, n.p.; Bernice Gibbs Anderson, Oral History Project at University of Utah, interviewed by Phil Notarianni and Greg Thompson, August 15,1975, at Corinne, Utah, transcript in Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah; Mr. and Mrs. William W. Bowe, Ethnic Oral History Collections, interviewed by Ellis LeFevere, August 19, 1974, transcript at Golden Spike National Historic Site; Cincinnati Excursion to California (Indianapolis: Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad, 1870), p. 39; Ogden Daily Herald, June 4, 1881; Utah Tri-Weekly Reporter, January 4, 1870; "Across the Continent, 1877-78," Bulletin of the British Association for American Studies new series 9 (1964): 60-61; Utah Reporter, December 16, 1869, May 28, 1870; Deseret Evening News, May 30, 1870, July 7, 1870.

6 Daily Utah Reporter, April 9, August 4, 1870; Salt Lake Herald, September 11, 1870; Deseret Evening News, July 9, May 20, 1869; Journal History of the Church, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, May 26, 1869, pp. 5-6; Ogden Junction, August 6, 1870, May 24, 1873, December 19, 1874.

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with m o r e than 90 percent of them located in Box Elder County and most of the rest in S u m m i t County. Over the e n s u i n g decades Box Elder showed a steady decline in its Chinese population through 1920 when the census found n o n e living there. As o n e might expect, the Chinese population in Washington County peaked in 1880 with 53. By 1890 there were only 2 a n d after that n o n e , reflecting the e n d of the mining b o o m in Silver Reef. T h e n u m b e r of Chinese r e c o r d e d for Utah as a whole (806) a n d for t h e c o u n t i e s of W e b e r (106), a n d Summit (121) peaked in 1890. For Salt Lake County 1890 a n d 1900 were the high points with 269 a n d 271 Chinese listed, respectively.

T h e s e figures show t h e m o v e m e n t of m a n y C h i n e s e to t h e state's urban centers. By 1920 only 342 Chinese were enumerated by the census, with most of them living in Salt Lake or Weber counties. 7 T h e arrival of the Chinese into u r b a n areas affected both white residents a n d the Chinese. At first contact, residents reflected their Anglo-American values by c o m m e n t i n g on the "peculiar" attire of the Chinese a n d their exotic appearances. Gradually, however, hints of anti-Chinese sentiments surfaced. 8 T h e Chinese came together in the C h i n a t o w n s n o t only b e c a u s e they s o u g h t to be a m o n g t h e i r own people but also because many of them shared c o m m o n family names a n d traditionally lived near o n e another. Since most Chinese did not plan to settle permanently in America they wanted to retain their culture by maintaining close contact with o n e another. T h e overwhelming n u m b e r of Chinese were bachelor males or married m e n whose families h a d r e m a i n e d in China. Lonely a n d homesick in a strange land, they sought o n e a n o t h e r ' s company. Consequently, they organized Chinatowns on an extended kinship basis to m e e t their affiliative needs. 9 In addition, such living arrangements contributed in some measure to the preservation and continuation of their familiar way of life, particularly through associations like the Bing Kong Tong in Salt Lake City. Thus, Chinatowns offered their residents both physical a n d psychological security.

These enclaves did not, however, meet all the psychosocial needs 7 "Utah's Chinese Heritage," typescript, Golden Spike National Historic Site; Deseret Evening News, January 29, 1873; Silver Reef Miner, May 24, 1879; Golden Spike Oral History Project, Bernice Gibbs Anderson manuscript material, MS-95, p. 70.

H Salt Lake Tribune, May 4, 1871, January 29, 1874, June 2, 1878; CorinneDaily Mail, September 25, 1875; Salt Lake, Herald, September 11, 1870; Utah Reporter, November, 14, 1870; Ogden Junction, January 29, 1879.

9 Ching Chao Wu, "Chinatowns: A Study of Symbiosis and Assimilation" (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1928), pp. 157-58; D. Y. Yuan, "Voluntary Segregation: A Study of New Chinatowns." Phylon 24 (1963): 255-65; Melford S. Weiss, Valley City: A Chinese Community in America (Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1974), pp. 33-34; Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 1898.

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of the Chinese. T h e shortage of females, for e x a m p l e , largely prec l u d e d t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of n u c l e a r families. 10 T h e few C h i n e s e women had come usually as either spouses or prostitutes. Respectable wives traditionally r e m a i n e d at h o m e a n d h a d little c o n t a c t with whites. W h e n they did emerge publicly their appearance was cause for considerable c o m m e n t such as occurred when three Chinese women attended a Salt Lake fair in 1873 where their presence caused m u c h c o m m e n t a m o n g the rest of the fairgoers. As there were few eligible Chinese women, weddings were rare. T h e first occurred in 1870 when J o h n Tip married Ma Coy in a civil ceremony performed at the bride's Corinne restaurant. Only a handful of other marriages occurred, and few p r o d u c e d children. U t a h ' s miscegenation law forbade Chinese m e n from marrying Caucasian women, a n d virtually n o o t h e r alternatives existed. T h e r e were anomalous cases such as a Chinese m a n a n d a white w o m a n from Scofield who married. 1 1 Few Chinese child r e n lived in U t a h ' s Chinatowns, a n d those that did kept to themselves. O n rare occasions they would be seen by whites, as in the case of a y o u n g C h i n e s e boy w h o lived as a b e g g a r on Salt Lake City's streets. This, too, was an anomaly since children usually belonged to well-to-do Chinese merchants who could afford to bring their families over to America. 12 Another factor precluding stable Chinatowns was their transient populations. Chinese often moved wherever they thought they could obtain the best economic opportunities. O n the heels of the Black Hills gold rush, for example, a n u m b e r of Chinese merchants left Salt Lake City for Deadwood, Dakota Territory, to open new businesses. O t h e r Chinese engaged in seasonal labor and left Salt Lake City during the winter. This seemingly opportunistic attitude contributed to white citizens' prejudice against these overseas Chinese workers whom they perceived to be n o t h i n g b u t sojourners a n d uninterested in building a stable community. 1 3 In spite of such issues, Chinatowns offered the 10 Angela Chan Conley, "The Social Problems of the Chinese in Salt Lake City" (M.S. thesis, University of Utah, 1973), pp. 5-6, 25-27. " Corinne Daily Miner, January 7, 1875; Our Pioneer Heritage, 10: 454; Milton Konvitz, The Alien and the Asiatic in American Law (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1946), p. 232; Frances Cunningham to author, undated; Deseret Evening News, October 8, 1873.

12 Salt Lake Tribune, December 21, 1883; Ogden Standard, December 22, 1904.

13 Deseret Evening News, December 8, 1879; Paul C. P. Siu, "The Sojourner," American Journal of Sociology 8 (1952): 34-44; Franklin Ng, "The Sojourner, Return Migration, and Immigration History," Chinese America: History and Perspectives (1987): 53-71; Annie E. Chapman, "Work among the Chinese," The Home Missionary 80 (1886): 284.

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Chinese security a n d cultural familiarity as well as economic potentialâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a factor that largely determined where these enclaves developed.

In Utah, Chinatowns occupied an older section of their host city near the central business district and close to available transportation networks. In Salt Lake City, Chinatown c e n t e r e d a r o u n d Plum Alley which ran north from Second South to First South between Main and State streets. Corinne's first Chinatown centered near the intersection of F o u r t h Avenue a n d M o n t a n a Street. Following a major fire on September 25, 1871, the city fathers zoned a new area for the enclave.

Chinatown t h e n b o r d e r e d N o r t h F r o n t Street a n d the Bear River between First and Second near the steamboat wharf. Ogden's Chinatown was less centralized but was situated along Fifth Avenue north of Main.

Silver Reef's Chinese lived on the east end of Centre Street. T h e most unusual Chinatown site was in Park City where Chinese lived in approximately twenty buildings along Silver Creek. The site sat so low along the flood plain that a bright red foot bridge crossed over the Chinese buildings from Marsac Avenue on Rossie Hill down toward Main.14 Morphologically, Chinatowns t e n d e d to develop in linear patterns. In some measure this reflected site topography. T h e ravine created by Silver Creek, for example, confined growth in m u c h of Park City. Similarly, Corinne's was restricted by the Bear River. In Salt Lake City, however, the nascent Chinatown along Plum Alley developed and grew into m o r e of a reticulated pattern incorporating parts of Third South, Commercial Avenue, a n d East Temple (Main Street). 15 Residents of Chinatowns often f o u n d e m p l o y m e n t within the enclave through local Chinese labor brokers." 1 Inhabitants saved money by living frugally in the back of stores or in adjacent shared housing.

Such arrangements removed the Chinese from residential competition with the d o m i n a n t society. Chinese usually r e n t e d the property they occupied. In part, this reflected their economic and social status. It also underscored their transient lifestyle. Few, save established merchants, 14 Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 68; Conrad Elliot, "Chinatown," The Lodestar (1978): 9; "List of Laundries for 1911," Immigration and Statistics Letter Books, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, pp.

59-60; Sanborn Fire Map for Ogden (New York: Sanborn, 1884); Alfred Bleak Stucki, "A Historical Record of Silver Reef: Southern Utah Mining Town" (MA. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1966), p. 44; Sanborn Fire Map for Park City (New York: Sanborn, 1889); Raye Carlson Price, Diggings and Doings in Park City, 2d ed. (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1972); Daily Corinne Reporter, September 25, 26, October 19, 1871.

15 Sanborn Fire Map for Salt Lake City (New York; Sanborn Map and Publishing, 1882); Polk's Salt Lake City Directory, 1896; Richard C. Roberts and Richard W. Sadler, Ogden: Junction City (Northridge, Calif.: Windsor Publications, 1985), pp. 94-95; Chuen-yan David Lai, Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in Canada (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988), pp. 5-7.

16 Utah Record, September 7, 1870.

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sought long-term locational c o m m i t m e n t . Perhaps the Chinese also feared the loss of real estate should they be expelled as o c c u r r e d in nearby Rock Springs, Wyoming, in 1885. Most Chinatowns remained fixed until their extinction a n d did n o t usually relocate even though their residents maintained a high degree of mobility.

Although Chinatowns r e m a i n e d segregated from the communities within which they existed, they did not live in isolation from o n e a n o t h e r . They f o r m e d distinct s e t t l e m e n t n o d e s linked by rail a n d other overland routes with other Chinatowns across the region, including those in Montana and Idaho. T h e larger Chinatowns also acted as hubs. Salt Lake City's gained ascendancy over others. Chinese from across Utah as well as the western United States considered it a regional center for many activities. Utah's Chinese retained strong links with Chinese officials in the U.S. d u e to their location on the major eastwest axis across the country from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.17 Chinatowns a n d o t h e r e t h n i c enclaves did n o t b l e n d into the local e n v i r o n m e n t . Sunnyside's Ragtown where many p o o r Italians lived in squalid tents was o n e example of the conspicuously impoverished conditions faced by many immigrants. 18 However, as Chinatowns grew they seemed to be singled out for special attention, a n d nativists perceived them in darkest terms. T h e local press often exploited a n d reinforced the negative views of Chinatowns as unhealthy havens of immoral and illegal activities. Little opportunity existed to alter such misconceptions. Civic leaders t h o u g h t Chinatowns to be unhealthy d u e to p o p u l a t i o n congestion, unsanitary conditions, a n d rare diseases carried by Chinese. Complaints frequently centered around malo d o r o u s pig sties or pools of s t a g n a n t water n e a r wash h o u s e s , particularly d u r i n g the s u m m e r m o n t h s . Reports of some Chinese with H a n s e n ' s disease, or leprosy, further fostered this p e r c e p t i o n , even though such accounts were often without foundation. 1 9 Whites also saw Chinatowns as centers of immorality. This perception s t e m m e d in large measure from cultural dissonance. Local moral a n d religious leaders considered opium a n d gambling nefarious illegal activities, while for the Chinese they were a cultural comp o n e n t of their traditional lifestyle. T h e Chinese usually g a m b l e d a m o n g themselves often placing bets with brass coins valued at about 17

Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 1884; Deseret Evening News, February 8,1902. '" Philip F. Notarianni, "Italianta in Utah" in The Peoples of Utah, pp. 307-8.

"Salt Lake Herald, August 21, 1874, September 29, 1888, June 23, 1886, June 19, 1891,April 14, 1891.

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1/10 of a p e n n y in games of fan tan. For higher stakes, Silver Reef's Chinese residents played a lottery which reportedly could pay out u p to $10,000. Even t h o u g h gambling was o n e of the few recreational activities available to the Chinese, authorities arrested those involved with such games. In September 1873 Salt Lake City Police began raiding Chinese gambling "dens." O g d e n Police l a u n c h e d their largest gambling crackdown on Chinese in 1887, arresting seventeen in o n e night's raid. In response to e n h a n c e d police activity Chinese began posting lookouts. Police in turn resorted to stealth a n d speed in conducting raids, albeit with limited success. 20 Most whites saw opium as a much greater evil. In China use of the d r u g h a d increased dramatically u n d e r British-fostered trade. Many Chinese, consequently, brought their addiction to the U.S. Possession and use of the d r u g was not illegal until 1914 with passage of the federal Harrison Act, but it was unlawful to smuggle the black tar-like substance into the country without paying federal duties or taxes. In 1879 the Salt Lake City Council passed an ordinance outlawing opium dens.

Police, however, confessed to the difficulty of o b t a i n i n g evidence because the Chinese tended to be wary of selling to those they did not know. Park City saw a similar law o v e r t u r n e d by its municipal c o u r t which ruled that the city had no right to pass such an ordinance u n d e r its charter. Beyond this, most considered the effects of the d r u g to be debilitating and immoral. Contemporary accounts frequently describe in vivid terms the dismal conditions of these "dens of infamy" and the "pernicious" effect of the d r u g . Nonetheless, a n u m b e r of m e n a n d women from all social strata and races smoked opium with the Chinese, leaving some to decry the "Saintly Salt Lakers" who "Hit the Pipe."21 C h i n e s e p r o s t i t u t i o n , "the m e a n e s t of m o r a l ulcers," as o n e observer saw it, occurred largely because the Chinese lived in "reproductive isolation" with p r o s t i t u t i o n as t h e only available outlet.

Convicted prostitutes, nonetheless, faced stiff sentences. A Corinne court fined seven Chinese w o m e n $100 each. W h e n they could n o t pay t h e j u d g e o r d e r e d t h e m i n c a r c e r a t e d . Even w h e n t h e c o u r t 2(1 John Eldredge to "Denny," March 18, 1985, Golden Spike National Historical Site; Record of Arrests No. 2, 1896-97, Utah State Archives; Silver Reef Miner, January 17, 1880; Salt Lake Herald, September 2, 4, 1873, December 14, 1875, May 23, 1882, October 21, 1885; Ogden Morning Herald, August 7, 9, 25, 1887; Park Mining Record, April 6, 1895; Deseret Evening Nexus, October 20, 1885.

-1 Chinese were not the only ones arrested for keeping opium dens. In 1892 U.S. Marshal Elias H. Parsons was tried for renting a den on Plum Alley to some Chirrese. Salt Lake Tribune, December 4, 1880, April 4, 1886, January 10, 1886; Salt Lake Herald, October 15, 1875, October 16, 19, 1878, November 20, 1879, June 14, 1883, September 16, 1881, November 10, 1883, July 17, 1885, June 13, 1880, March 9, April 28, 1892; Deseret Evening News, April 23, September 18, November 20, 21, 22, 1879; Park Mining Record, April 4, 1885; Ogden Herald, October 27, 1887.

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reduced the fine the women remained jailed. Two Salt Lake Chinese w o m e n a r r e s t e d twice in o n e week each received fines of $500.

Prostitutes who escaped their "owners" were often pursued since they cost their "owners" between $150 a n d $600. A Chinese in Silver Reef even advertised a $50 reward for t h e r e t u r n of o n e of his missing women. This reinforced the belief a m o n g Euro-Americans that the Chinese women were little m o r e than slaves.22 In spite of public opposition little was d o n e to curtail prostitution, a n d few arrests occurred.

To a lesser degree Chinatowns were also perceived as sequestering illegal immigrants. Beginning in 1882 a series of federal laws severely restricted Chinese immigration. Many Chinese opposed this racist legislation and sought to circumvent it by continuing to enter the country.

T h e Deseret Evening News decried the n u m b e r of "wily a n d c u n n i n g " Chinese who e n t e r e d the country illegally, while the Salt Lake Herald maintained that it was "very common" among the city's Chinese to have entered the country with fraudulent documents. In 1895 a federal investigator came to Salt Lake City searching for illegal immigrants. His assignment proved difficult as the Chinese r e m a i n e d reticent; many "suddenly developed an ignorance of English that was surprising" when queried on such matters. O n e Chinese informant, however, made a startling revelation. H e said an u n n a m e d g o v e r n m e n t official in O g d e n sold illegal documentation. These fraudulent papers, he said, were supposedly cheaper in Ogden than those available in San Francisco! 25 Beyond this level of Chinese and white rancor there existed a history of competition a n d conflict a m o n g the Chinese themselves. In 1873 a gang of Chinese on the Utah Railroad hanged one of their own for reasons n o t revealed to any whites. Theft a n d violence occurred between Chinese individuals m o r e often t h a n groups, a l t h o u g h in 1883 a war between the H o o Sing a n d Bing Kong tongs b r o k e o u t across the U n i t e d States. In Salt Lake a H o o Sing m e m b e r shot his own uncle who belonged to the rival tong. T h e Bing Kong eventually gained supremacy. 21 Most of the time, however, conflict and violence occurred a m o n g individual Chinese over scarce resources. 25 22 Utah Reporter, November 14, 1870; Deseret Evening News, January 29, 1873, May 28, 1872; Corinne Daily Journal, May 9, 10, 1871; November 14, 1870; Silver Reef Miner, June 14, 1874; Cottonwood Observer, July 19, 1873; Deseret Evening News, March 19, 1879.

23 Deseret Evening News, June 20, 1890; Salt Lake Herald, July 17-20, 1895.

24 Deseret Evening Nexus, September 13, 1873; Florence C Lister and Robert H. Lister, "Chinese Sojourners in Territorial Prescott," Journal of the Southwest 31 (1989): 25; Salt Lake Telegram, February 8, 1884; Deseret Evening Nexus, January 5, 1872.

25 Stanford Lyman, Chinatoxun and Little Tokyo: Poxuer, Conflict, and Community among Chinese and Japanese Immigrants in America (Millwood, N.Y: Associated Faculty Press, 1986), pp. 69-219.

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T h e r e are n u m e r o u s r e p o r t s of Chinese stealing a n d fighting among themselves. Usually such disputes involved minor stolen household items or gambling losses. In some instances the d i s a g r e e m e n t centered a r o u n d more significant matters. In 1897 Yee Yen, a Chinese financial agent, absconded with $8,000 in savings from the Chinese of Salt Lake. Territorial officials captured, tried, and convicted him. T h e case drew so m u c h attention that the Chinese consul traveled to Utah to a t t e n d t h e trial. 26 In s o m e instances, violence o c c u r r e d . For example, in Ogden, ChingYu received three d e e p hatchet wounds to his head when he attempted to collect a business debt. 27 Since women were few, competition for their attention could be intense. In one case a Chinese m a n from O g d e n paid a trio of Euro-Americans $300 to abscond with a Chinese woman living with her husband in Sandy. T h e kidnappers made off with her, but h e r husband intercepted them and retrieved his wife.28 T h e most sensational Chinese m u r d e r occurred in Alta where two Chinese m e n stabbed and robbed a woman known as China Mary. T h e dramatic nature of the case attracted considerable attention across the territory and the lurid details received considerable coverage in the local press which depicted the Chinese as wanton a n d immoral. 29 In spite of discrimination, danger, a n d difficulties, Chinatowns still offered the Chinese the best circumstances for economic betterm e n t . Initially, e m p l o y m e n t in Chinatowns c e n t e r e d a r o u n d what might be considered traditional primary-level occupations. After the driving of the golden spike b o t h the Central Pacific a n d the U n i o n Pacific as well as smaller lines employed Chinese primarily on section crews. 30 In spite of their reputation as being docile a n d manageable the Chinese proved militant at times. In an e x t r e m e case a section crew n e a r Corinne rebelled over the firing of o n e of their own a n d attacked Frank Donsure, the section boss, with the iron rods used to repair the track. Donsure escaped and the railroad fired the Chinese.

Chinese also worked for m i n i n g c o m p a n i e s in different capacities.

Response to t h e m varied. At the M u d Creek Coal Mines e i g h t e e n a r m e d guards p r o t e c t e d forty Chinese workers from the o t h e r dis26

Salt Lake Herald, March 19, 1897.

Deseret Evening News, May 21, 1875; Ogden Standard, March 28, 1900, January 7, 1888; Salt Lake Herald, May 15, 1889; Corinne Daily Mail, January 5, 1875; Park Mining Record, June 10, 1882.

28 Salt Lake Herald, December 1, 2, 1890, April 18, 1884; Corinne Daily Miner, January 5, 1875; Ogden Junction, May 6, 1874; Salt Lake Tribune, May 6, 9, 1899.

29 Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1887; Salt Lake Herald, May 5, 1888.

30 Salt Lake Herald, April 20, 1883, October 6, 1885; Silver Reef Miner, June 10, 1882.

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g r u n t l e d m i n e r s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; p r o b a b l y Italians. T h e Samson Mine n e a r Park City, however, fired all of its Chinese after two engaged in a bloody fight.31 Eventually Utah law forbade Chinese and other aliens from working in t h e m i n e s ; however, a l o o p h o l e allowed those of E u r o p e a n ancestry to continue working. In lieu of citizenship, the law stipulated that an alien could declare his intention of becoming a naturalized citizen. As most Chinese h a d n o intention of becoming Americans they r e m a i n e d excluded from the mines. Chinese c o n t i n u e d to work for mining companies near Park City a n d Alta in support services such as cooking a n d serving in the m i n e r s ' b o a r d i n g houses. In these roles they i n t e r a c t e d successfully with o t h e r e t h n i c g r o u p s . At B i n g h a m Canyon, for example, a Chinese laundry served the Slavic miners of the Highland Boy Gold Mine. 32 Chinese railroad a n d mine workers frequently found themselves in direct economic competition with whites. What fostered particular resentment was the fact that Chinese accepted a m u c h lower standard of living a n d worked for less than the average laborer. T h e seeming economic success of the Chinese led whites to fear loss of employment or potential i n c o m e . Beyond these perceptions, influences outside Utah reinforced growing anti-Chinese attitudes.

Dennis Kearney, the nation's foremost anti-Chinese agitator from San Francisco, stopped at Salt Lake City in 1883 long enough to criticize employers of Chinese. Five years later, in an interview with the Salt Lake Herald, Kearney again lashed out at the continued efforts of the white "Chinese slave-dealers" to allow more Chinese to enter the country and u n d e r m i n e the labor market. In 1884 Dr. Charles Carroll O'Donnell, p r e s i d e n t of San Francisco's W o r k i n g m a n ' s Anti-Coolie League, expressed such views much more emphatically. In Salt Lake he vigorously lectured on the evils of Chinese labor. O'Donnell had a particular fixation with Chinese lepers and expended considerable effort expounding on this issue. H e had reportedly brought two lepers with him to display 51 Ogden Daily Herald, July 30, 1881; Ogden Junction, December 15, 1875; Corinne Daily Miner, September 6, 1875; Deseret Evening Nexus, September 13, 1873.

32 Corinne Daily Mail, July 12, 1875; Park Mining Record, September 18, 1886, October 27, 1883, September 13, 1884; Deseret Evening News, September 13, 1873; Salt Lake Herald, June 7, 1871, March 11, 1885, April 20, 1883, October 6, 1885; Salt Lake Tribune, December 12, 1883; James Bonwick, Mormons and the Silver Mines (London: Hodder Stoughton, 1872), pp. 370-85; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," 84, 144; Konvitz, The Alien and Asiatic in American Law, p. 199; Pauli Murray, States' Laws on Race and Color (Nashville: Woman's Division of Christian Service, Board of Missions and Church Extension, Methodist Church, 1950), p. 458; Joseph Stipanovich, "South Slav Settlements in Utah, 1890-1935," Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (1975): 163.

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Ogden's Chinatown centered around 25th Street. USHS collections.

on his nationwide tour with the intent of abandoning the unfortunate pair in Washington, D.C., for the federal government to care for.

Although many regarded O'Donnell as a "crank," Utahns by the early 1880s had become increasingly antagonistic toward the Chinese.

The Park Mining Record termed "Chinese cheap labor" to be the "foundation for crime a n d destitution" and claimed their "presence tends to increase vice a n d immorality," while the Corinne Daily Mail decried the o n g o i n g " i n h u m a n traffic" of Chinese. 3 3 As anti-Chinese views became increasingly persistent it is not surprising that r a n d o m acts of violence r a n g i n g from vandalism to physical assaults o c c u r r e d .

Although Utah experienced less intense anti-Chinese agitation than most places in the West it was by n o means e x e m p t from such activities.34 Youths frequently p e r p e t r a t e d vandalism against the Chinese, leading o n e Salt Lake observer to comment, "The boys who r u n the 33 Park Mining Record, March 11, 1882; Ogden Daily Herald, November 22, 1884; Corinne Daily Mail, September 12, 1874; Silver Reef Miner, June 14, 1879; Salt Lake Herald, April 11, 1882.

31 Governor of Utah, "Report to the Secretary of the Interior," 50th Cong., 1st sess. (1887-88), House Ex. Doc, vol. 10, no. 1, pt. 5, serial #2541, October 10, 1887.

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streets seem to think they are licensed to abuse C h i n a m e n in every conceivable way," adding, "they break the windows of the Heathens, throw rocks at their doors, take advantage of a solitary Chinaman and pull his que [sic], a n d attempt violence against him; a n d always make a liberal use of the vilest, filthiest and most brutal expressions towards them." 35 Such actions, though, were not restricted to young offenders; adults also occasionally assaulted Chinese with little or no provocation.

Robbers often singled out Chinese victims, believing that they carried considerable a m o u n t s of cash. At C o r i n n e an e x t r e m e e x a m p l e of anti-Chinese activity occurred when a Chinese accused of m u r d e r was lynched from a rail trestle by a mob. 36 In Ogden the Knights of Labor m o u n t e d a systematic effort in the s u m m e r of 1885. They a n d the Ogden Herald advocated a boycott of Chinese vegetable vendors with the call, "Let all unite in a vigorous effort to withdraw support from the creatures who destroy the dignity of labor a n d who b r i n g u p o n h o n e s t toilers the curse of want a n d degradation." Not all whites responded favorably. As the scope of the boycott expanded, attorney P. J. Barrett dismissed it, noting that the Chinese did work n o o n e else was willing to do. A letter to the Herald cryptically signed by "Vindex" also c o n d e m n e d the Knights' tactics.

Tensions escalated, a n d at least o n e labor faction openly spoke of resorting to "explosives a n d the rope" to remove the Chinese. In an effort to bolster support for the boycott the Knights published a litany of familiar charges against the Chinese a n d called on Ogdenites to "expel the vile leper . . . preying u p o n o u r country." In an o u t d o o r mass meeting, newly appointed J u d g e A. H e e d told those assembled, "There is n o t h i n g that can be said in favor of the Chinese. We must get rid of them." Gen. Nathan Kimball also addressed the boisterous crowd but said the Chinese must be protected, adding, "they have as m u c h right here as Irishmen." H e urged the Knights to "stick to their avocations a n d work for themselves a n d n o t against a n o t h e r class."

Kimball stood his g r o u n d in the face of the hostile assembly until finished. J u d g e H e e d r e t u r n e d to give what o n e o b s e r v e r called "a forcible a n d somewhat profane speech depreciating in strong terms the classing of Irishmen with Chinamen." Afterwards the "noisy and i n c o n g r u o u s m u l t i t u d e " dispersed. T h e Chinese r e m a i n e d u n c o n 88 Salt Lake Herald, May 24, 1873, January 22, 1891, May 4, 1890, July 7, 1873, April 15, 1874, August 20, 1885, May 9, 1883, August 20, 1885.

36 Utah Mining Gazette, April 18, 1874; Ogden Herald, October 30, 1887, November 22, 1887, April 26, 1882; Vernal Express, April 28, 1898; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:431.

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cerned about all the activity. Ty Kee of Ogden reported that during the boycott the Chinese sold more vegetables than ever, and laundries maintained the same amount of business. The Chinese met among themselves, Ty said, and decided to stay in Ogden rather than be run off.37 The boycott continued into fall. In October the Troy Laundry in Ogden guaranteed that Chinese laundries would be out of business within sixty days if no one patronized the Chinese wash houses and instead took their laundry to the larger, white-owned establishment. The Knights meanwhile sought to intensify the boycott by publishing the names of firms and individuals continuing to do business and sympathizing with the Chinese. The union recommended that these businesses be boycotted too. The plan backfired when several of the thirty-two names appearing on the list, including the Troy Laundry, turned out to be solidly anti-Chinese. Many in Ogden strongly denounced the Knights' ineptness, and the labor organization seemed unable to decide if it should call off the whole boycott and lose face or go through their list and decide whom to exempt. Complicating the issue was a report in the Salt Lake Tribune claiming that the Mormon church was behind the boycott since most of the businesses on the list belonged to gentiles. The Ogden Herald quickly denounced the Tribune report, calling it "consummate bosh." The Knights issued a statement saying that many of the names on the infamous list appeared there by mistake and withdrew many of them. They added that the Mormons were not behind the boycott. Some Ogdenites, still indignant at the action of the Knights, publicly denounced the boycott while urging that more constructive approaches be considered. By the end of October the Ogden Herald declared the boycott to have been "a total failure in every respect" and reported the Knights to be bitterly divided among themselves.38 Events in Ogden caught the attention of the rest of the territory.

The Park Mining Record tried unsuccessfully to garner similar support against Park City's Chinese. The Deseret Evening News credited the Knights for not resorting to violence but said the boycott would not be effective. The Salt Lake Herald, however, thought the boycott "proper" to the point of reprinting the infamous list and predicting 37 38

Ogden Herald, August 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 23, 1885.

Ogden Herald, October 15, 19, 21, 1885.

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success for the Knights. T h e abortive O g d e n boycott did not end organized labor's antipathy toward the Chinese. In 1893 the F e d e r a t e d Trades a n d Labor Council of Utah passed a resolution supporting the rigorous e n f o r c e m e n t of the Geary law which c o n t i n u e d the 1882 Exclusion Act.39 Even in the face of violence and recrimination, the Chinese did not respond in kind. T h o u g h there are occasional reports of Chinese taking on or even shooting at assailants, overall they realized the futility of retaliating in a concerted effort as they were too weak to possibly succeed. 1 0 Economically d e p e n d e n t u p o n white employers a n d customers, they did not want to do anything that might endanger their economic status, lead to deportation, or escalate into further violence.

In essence, they resorted to the traditional wisdom of their culture which counseled, "recompence injury with kindness" and "lack of forbearance in small matters upsets great plans." 41 Given their experience in competing directly with Euro-American labor at the p r i m a r y a n d secondary levels of e c o n o m i c activity, the Chinese defined for themselves new economic niches at the tertiary level with m i n i m a l d i r e c t c o m p e t i t i o n . C h i n a t o w n s saw l a u n d r i e s become the most c o m m o n business enterprise. By 1886 there were at least fifteen Chinese laundries in Salt Lake City alone. Even as late as 1911 Chinese laundries existed in the smaller communities of Mercur, Eureka, and Milford. Such work was labor intensive, but it represented an attractive business opportunity for the Chinese. Most operations were modest, employing n o more than a handful of Chinese, often in small, two-room buildings, although in Salt Lake City some Chinese converted a large h o m e on West Temple into a wash house. T h e laundry industry was also o p e n to the Chinese due in n o small part to the relative lack of non-Mormon women. Gentiles patronized the laundry services offered by the Chinese as most preferred not to conduct business with the M o r m o n s . As a result, M o r m o n w o m e n who took in laundry lost business, leaving o n e Saint to complain, "Gentiles prefer taking their soiled linen to Confucian [sic] Mongolians" rather than to "Christian Caucasians." At least o n e M o r m o n e l d e r p a t r o n i z e d a 39 Park Mining Record, August 15, 1885; Deseret Evening News, October 20, 1885, June 10, 1893; Salt Lake Herald, October 20, 1885.

40 Salt Lake Herald, February 4, 1895, May 9, 1893, May 24, 1873, October 2, 1888; Park Mining Record, August 7, 1880.

41 Chia-Lin, "Gold Dreams in Blue Mountains" (M.A. thesis, Portland State University, 1967), pp.

112-13; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 64.

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Chinese establishment a n d complained that his e n d o w m e n t g a r m e n t was r e t u r n e d with the openings sewed up! 42 Even though laundries were the most frequent enterprise in Utah Chinatowns, the d o m i n a n t business was the Chinese m e r c h a n t house or store, which exerted considerable influence a m o n g the Chinese. In 1880 Salt Lake h a d just three such stores. By the turn of the century t h a t n u m b e r h a d i n c r e a s e d only to seven. But by locating within Chinatown, these merchants effectively controlled the market to the Chinese. Some of the larger stores also attracted white customers since they sold American goods as well as novelty items from C h i n a a n d J a p a n . Beyond their e c o n o m i c status Chinese m e r c h a n t s exercised considerable influence a n d control over the residents of Chinatown.

Merchants often assumed positions of leadership within the local C h i n e s e c o m m u n i t y . In 1874 Sam Lee was r e g a r d e d as t h e chief s p o k e s p e r s o n for t h e Salt Lake C h i n e s e . It was u n c l e a r to white observers if h e was a political boss or a clan leader. As the local society grew a n d developed, Chin Q u a n Chan, or Chin Chin as h e was commonly called by whites, became recognized as the "mayor" of Salt Lake City's Chinatown, a n d Dave H i n g was n o t e d as "deputy mayor."

Little is known of Hing, but he is described as being well educated and able to speak English fluently. Chin moved to Salt Lake from O g d e n and as "mayor" assumed positions of community leadership and social responsibility. H e owned m u c h of the Chinese-occupied property in Salt Lake City a n d h a d extensive business interests a m o n g t h e Chinese, including a labor brokerage. In 1912 he a n n o u n c e d plans to r e t u r n to H o n g Kong permanently but estimated it would take him a year to close out his business affairs in Utah. H e often adjudicated disputes a m o n g the Chinese. Whites, too, held him in special esteem, and his opinions on a variety of topics appeared in the local press. H e also acted as an intermediary between his people a n d local authorities. In 1912 he complained that police harassed Chinese for playing games that did n o t involve gambling b u t were simply unfamiliar to whites. H e said officers b r o k e down t h e d o o r s to his h o m e a n d entered with revolvers drawn to arrest fifteen Chinese playing there.

Chin r e p o r t e d that n o t only were the charges false, b u t such action 42 Kate Carter, ed., Heart Throbs of the West, 12 vols. (Salt Lake City: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1939-51), 5:368-70; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:446-47; "List of Laundries for 1911"; Salt Lake Herald, July 2, 1873, December 4, 1880; Salt Lake Tribune, December 3, 1880, April 19, 1891, December 18, 1881, October 15, 1883; Deseret Evening News, July 19, 1873, August 21, 1874, August 14, 1874, June 21, 1882; Utah Reporter, August 11, 12, 1870; St. George Union, February 1881; Ogden Herald, June 18, 1881; Ogden Standard, October 18, 1889.

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was bad for business a n d projected a negative image of the Chinese.

Evidently his words h a d some effect for the court dismissed all but two of the cases.

Chin's t e n u r e as "mayor" was n o t always s m o o t h . After visiting China a n d remarrying following the death of his first wife, he discovered that some of Salt Lake's Chinese sought to keep him from returning to the U.S. T h e n customs officials in Port Townsend, Washington, received word that Chin was smuggling prostitutes. False affidavits also said he h a d sold his business interests and therefore could not legally r e t u r n as a m e r c h a n t u n d e r federal law. Only after an extended legal struggle did Chin a n d his family secure entrance. U p o n returning to Utah he regained his lost prestige a n d authority. Possibly the effort to usurp him was part of a larger struggle between rival tongs. 43 C h i n e s e e n g a g e d in o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n s t h a t did n o t c o m p e t e directly with whites. To e n u m e r a t e all of these would go beyond the scope of this essay; however, a few are worthy of particular mention.

Chinese cooks received praise for being both economical and skillful.

Most Chinatowns had at least o n e Chinese restaurant that catered to both whites and Chinese, and some were quite elaborate. Charley O n g L u n g ' s in Park City, for e x a m p l e , was described as "first class" a n d served "choice meals." Others were less polished, and, of some, whites c o m p l a i n e d t h a t cooks spat on b o t h food a n d utensils. For t h e Chinese, restaurants were m o r e than a place to eat; they served as a meeting and lodging place where they could share and maintain their culture and heritage a m o n g their fellow countrymen.

In particular, restaurants that were service points for both whites a n d C h i n e s e p r o s p e r e d . By 1902 two O g d e n e s t a b l i s h m e n t s h a d moved into newly refurbished buildings. T h e city's four restaurants were so successful that some whites speculated that a Chinese restaurant syndicate existed to drive white-owned establishments out of business. Although the charge was unsubstantiated, members of the local labor federation talked of boycotting the restaurants. Two years later t h e city passed an o r d i n a n c e b a n n i n g b o o t h s , a c o m m o n seating a r r a n g e m e n t in Chinese restaurants. A m u n i c i p a l c o u r t convicted Tom Sing a n d "Jim" u n d e r the new law. They appealed and the ordi43 Polk's Salt Lake City Directory, 1900, 804; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," pp. 42, 66; Silver Reef Miner, May 6, 1882; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 62; Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 1898; Port Townsend Weekly Leader (Washington), October 14, 1903; Deseret Evening News, July 13, 1907, June 25, 1912, January 3, 1903, February 8,1902.

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nance was overturned after a district court ruled the law "arbitrary" and acquitted the pair.

Groups of Chinese m a d e a livelihood as greengrocers. A n u m b e r tilled a g a r d e n in Salt Lake's Eighth Ward. T h e i r s p r e a d i n c l u d e d ditches that led to collection pools, fruit trees, a n d means for spreading m a n u r e . T h e farmers watered their crops with hand-held sprinklers filled at the collection pools. T h e Chinese replanted their land two to t h r e e times p e r season a n d consequently h a d larger a n n u a l yields per acre than their white counterparts. These farmers also lived on their land in small shanties shared with pigs a n d chickens. As early as April, gardeners began peddling their p r o d u c e in the city's streets to white customers. Some carried their goods in baskets s u s p e n d e d from a yoke, while those with m o r e prosperous operations used horsedrawn wagons. Some whites objected to the stench of the m a n u r e the Chinese used on the soil. In O g d e n the odor became so offensive to some citizens that the city b a n n e d the use of the fertilizer.44 C h i n e s e filled o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n a l positions. S o m e w o r k e d in white households as domestic servants where they received particular praise for being neat a n d clean. They also e a r n e d high praise as baby sitters. Others operated or worked on ranches. 45 Chinese herbalists or physicians lived in a n u m b e r of Chinatowns a n d saw patients of all races suffering from illness or injury. A C h i n e s e living in T e r r a c e , Box E l d e r County, for e x a m p l e , u s e d d r i e d r a t t l e s n a k e v e n o m as a poultice to draw a steel f r a g m e n t o u t of a white m a n ' s h a n d . Sometimes treating whites caused p r o b l e m s as in the case of Soo L u n g Kee who was arrested for prescribing opium. It is unclear how many Chinese health practitioners t h e r e were, b u t a r e p o r t in the Ogden Standard indicated that there was a Chinese hospital in that city. Chinese physicians apparently h a d some standing in their comm u n i t i e s , too, as a "Dr. Sam" was r e g a r d e d as a l e a d e r a m o n g t h e Chinese in Mercur. 46 O t h e r Chinese occupations operated outside the 44 Salt Lake Herald, April 28, 1878, June 18, 1893; Salt Lake Tribune, May 18, 1882, April 2, 1881, November 14, 1954; Ogden Standard, April 14, 1892.

45 Millard County Blade, April 25, 1896; "About the Chinese," Juvenile Instructor 17 (1882): 209; Park Mining Record, June 5, August 7, 1880, September 23, 1893; Li Li, "Toward a Cultural Interpretation of the Chinese Restaurant in the Mountain West" (M.A. thesis, Utah State University, 1990); Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," pp. 41-42, 59, 97, 99; Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, June 12, 1891, March 11, 1880, April 2, 1899; Deseret Evening News, July 12, 1872; Ogden Daily Herald, May 14, 1885; Ogden Standard, April 4, 1902, March 4, 1904; Brigham Bugler, May 30, 1891; Silver Reef Miner, May 17, 1879.

46 Salt Lake Herald, July 22, 1885; K. E. Covington. "Two Years on the Desert," True West 14 (JanuaryFebruary 1967): 68; Ogden Standard, July 28, 1897; Lillian Wood, "Lucy Lee: A Family History," graduate seminar paper, University of Utah, 1977, copy at Utah State Historical Society; Ogden Daily Herald, May 14, 1885.

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law. In the mid 1870s a n u m b e r of Chinese engaged in making cigars. T h e practice was n o t illegal per se; however, they failed to pay a special tax on the m a n u f a c t u r e a n d sale of tobacco p r o d u c t s . T h e courts considered such infractions seriously. Moushu, Ah Tong, a n d Wah H i n g e a c h received one-year p r i s o n s e n t e n c e s for m a k i n g cigars. 47 Overall, the Chinese moved successfully to tertiary level economic activity. T h e Chinese and Euro-Americans interacted primarily at the e c o n o m i c level, a n d only m o d e r a t e social i n t e r a c t i o n o c c u r r e d .

Occasionally, whites c o m m e n t e d on Chinese social activities, celebrations, a n d other festivals or funerals. A few visited open houses hosted

by Chinese to celebrate the New Year, for example. 48 O t h e r forms of social interaction, such as gambling and opium smoking, violated the social conventions of the d o m i n a n t society but included members of b o t h races. Beyond such activities, little social interaction occurred, with o n e notable exception.

Some Protestant churches in Utah initiated contact with Chinese as a means of converting them. T h e standard a p p r o a c h was to offer English classes a n d o n c e t h e Chinese g r a s p e d the l a n g u a g e teach them the gospel. T h e Congregational church in Salt Lake City began classes in September 1881 with just five students u n d e r the direction of Lena Wakefield of Reading, Massachusetts, who was affiliated with the American H o m e Missionary Society (AHMS). Before taking on the Chinese mission she taught at the Salt Lake Academy. T h e mission grew rapidly u n d e r A n n i e E. C h a p m a n who started as a t u t o r a n d became director in 1883 after Wakefield left on account of h e r health.

O n e of C h a p m a n ' s first actions was to start an evening school where English was taught. By 1895 over o n e h u n d r e d were enrolled in the classes and sixty-two were in the Sunday School program. T h e school's Chinese hosted a n u m b e r of interracial banquets a n d concerts that were quite popular. Several Chinese Christians became active in the missionary work. J u n g O. Loy, a Chinese convert from Sacramento, proved a particularly adept student a n d often volunteered to serve as a translator a n d teacher. H e was a close friend of Wakefield, and she continued to pay him his full salary of twenty dollars a m o n t h until the AHMS assumed half of the obligation. Even t h e n she c o n t i n u e d to 47

Deseret Evening News, April 13, 1877.

Ogden Standard, January 13, 1888; Ogden Daily Herald, August 17, 1886, September 1, 1884; Salt Lake Tribune, September 27, 1889, January 21, 1880, January 22, 1898; Salt Lake Herald, February 8, 1872; Deseret Evening Nexus, October 22, 1875, February 8, 1902; Corinne Daily Mail, April 5, 1875.

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s u p p o r t him with ten dollars a m o n t h o u t of h e r own pocket. J u n g served for many years as an assistant in the evening school. O t h e r Chinese also became active in the mission. T h e AHMS commissioned Wong Gee Lee, a local convert, to assist in reaching his countrymen.

Another Chinese wrote to the society that he conducted Bible studies and taught evening language classes and that d e m a n d was increasing.

Evening classes usually o p e n e d with hymns, prayer, and scripture reading. Students then paired off with a tutor to study their lessons. T h e Chinese used Lippincott's First Reader or Loomis's English and Chinese Lessons, which had biblical selections in it, as well as the Bible for texts.

Closing exercises consisted of singing a n d recitation of the L o r d ' s Prayer. Attendance in 1886 ranged from seventeen to thirty students.

T h e Methodists held their own services for the Chinese a n d found music to be particularly effective in i n c r e a s i n g a t t e n d a n c e . An observer n o t e d that as soon as the organ began the Chinese started singing enthusiastically.

Some Mormons and gentiles complained the schools were a poor vehicle for converting Chinese. T h e Deseret Evening Nexus said it was nearly impossible to obtain a genuine conversion from a Chinese person. T h e Ogden Standard maintained that Chinese converts were "neither Christians n o r h e a t h e n s " a n d that missionary efforts would be better spent on the needy in large cities.49 T h e P r o t e s t a n t s c o u n t e r e d with a r g u m e n t s of t h e i r own.

C h a p m a n r e p o r t e d the school to be an effective means of reaching the Chinese whom she described as attentive students coming from as far away as Rock Springs, Wyoming, to study. A Chinese leader in the mission r e p o r t e d that several m e n h a d expressed interest in uniting with the local Congregational c h u r c h b u t that their application for m e m b e r s h i p was p u t on hold because h e a n d o t h e r c h u r c h leaders did not want them to rush into a decision "until they understand just what they are doing, a n d have knowledge of the way to remain faithful."50 Some Chinese did j o i n ; in 1884 nine Chinese united with the local c h u r c h . T h e Salt Lake Methodists r e p o r t e d t h a t C h i n e s e Christians remained true to their new faith a n d sought to evangelize o t h e r C h i n e s e . T h e O g d e n Baptist c h u r c h , which also o p e r a t e d a Chinese Sunday School, h a d thirty-five in a t t e n d a n c e in 1892 a n d r e p o r t e d two converts. Such programs assisted the Chinese in o t h e r 49 50

Deseret Evening News, April 14, 1882; Ogden Standard, February 15, 1896.

"Chinese Missionary, Utah," The Home Missionary 58 (June 1886): 51.

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ways, too, as k i d n a p p e d Chinese women or prostitutes who escaped sometimes found refuge in church missions. In a 1900 case a woman left "her supposed husband" a n d ultimately went to a Christian mission h o m e in California. T h e Deseret Evening News, while dubious of the couple's marriage, nevertheless complained of Protestant work that "enters families and severs ties that should be sacred." 51 T h e C h u r c h of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in spite of its active missionary p r o g r a m , h a d virtually n o t h i n g to d o with t h e Chinese in Utah even t h o u g h M o r m o n missionaries worked a m o n g the Chinese in California a n d H o n g Kong. T h e Deseret Evening News dismissed gentile efforts by intimating that the Chinese were n o t sincere in their conversion testimonies. A California M o r m o n , Locke Melone, r e p o r t e d a conversation with Brigham Young in which the p r o p h e t stated that if o n e Chinese M o r m o n could be obtained others would follow. T h a t did n o t occur. Ah Sin, the second wife of a Salt Lake m e r c h a n t , a n d s o m e of h e r c h i l d r e n b e c a m e M o r m o n s , b u t there was n o conversion m o v e m e n t even though Plum Alley was less t h a n two blocks from Temple Square. Overall, the Chinese seemed uninterested in Mormonism. Chen Lanbin, the Chinese government's first m i n i s t e r to t h e U.S., traveled t h r o u g h U t a h on his way to Washington D.C. H e c o m m e n t e d on the practice of polygamy, noting, "this religion p e r m i t s the taking of concubines," b u t saw little else worth mentioning regarding Mormonism. 5 2 Beyond such impressionistic encounters little contact of a religious nature occurred between the Chinese a n d the Saints.

Traditional Chinese belief practices c e n t e r e d a r o u n d the Joss H o u s e as a locus of worship. O n e such t a b e r n a c l e is said to have a c c o m p a n i e d the Chinese working on the Central Pacific. A n o t h e r reportedly existed in C o r i n n e . In Salt Lake there was o n e above Ah Woo's store o n t h e c o r n e r of C o m m e r c i a l a n d P l u m Alley which 51 "Congregational Chinese Sunday School and Evening School," The Church Review 4 (December 29, 1895): 5; Mrs. Marcus Jones, "The Congregational Chinese Mission, Salt Lake City, Utah," American Missionary 51 (1857): 238-39; Chapman, "Work among the Chinese," pp. 281-85; Salt Lake Herald, February 19, 1888; Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 1886, February 12, 1892, March 26, June 12, August 8, December 27, 1883; "Utah Letter," Pacific Baptist, October 1892, p. 12; Annie E. Chapman, "O Loy and Gee, The Home Missionary 65 (1887): 227; Ambrose B. Carlton, The Wonderlands of the Wild West (n.p.: Author, 1891), pp. 95-97; Deseret Evening Nexus, April 24, 1900.

52 Deseret Evening Nexus, May 20, July 16, 1869, March 16, 1879, October 15, 1892; Journal History, September 25, 1894, June 3, 1854, January 12, March 14, 1855, March 26, 1910; Hosea M. Stout, On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea M. Stout (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press and Utah State Historical Society, 1964), pp. 156-57, 164-65; Salt Lake Tribune, July 11, 1876; Xi Feng, "The Chinese through the Utah Press," seminar paper in author's possession, April 1990, pp. 13â&#x20AC;&#x201D;14, 17-18; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 10:436-40, 448; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," pp. 75-76; Chen Lanbin, "Travel in the Interior" in Land xuithout Ghosts, ed. and trans. R. David Arkush and Leo O. Lee (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p. 51.

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o p e n e d in 1895. It contained a likeness of Q u o n Kong, a god of war.

T h e Chinese m a d e food offerings, particularly d u r i n g holidays such as the New Year. T h e offering table before the god's image was illuminated with candles and scented with incense. T h e walls along the table contained characters in gilded frames describing the god's virtues. 53 Despite varied e c o n o m i c a n d social roles, U t a h ' s C h i n a t o w n s were short lived. A combination of factors led to their extinction. Fires wreaked particular havoc. Several fires in Salt Lake destroyed some Chinese homes a n d businesses but never threatened the enclave as a whole. More severe conflagrations occurred elsewhere. At Corinne in S e p t e m b e r 1871 a fire d e s t r o y e d m o s t of C h i n a t o w n a n d killed a Chinese woman. Authorities c h a r g e d two Chinese m e n with arson.

T h e Chinese residents remained, but the city forced them to rebuild in a less desirable part of town near the Bear River.54 In May 1879 a fire destroyed part of Silver Reef, leaving Chinatown u n t o u c h e d â&#x20AC;&#x201D; b u t only temporarily. Six weeks later m u c h of Chinatown went u p in flames.

T h e second blaze began in a Chinese-occupied building a n d quickly spread. Firefighters tore down a n u m b e r of small Chinese buildings to create a fire b r e a k to save "the p r o p e r t y of white citizens." T h e C h i n e s e , nevertheless, set o u t to r e b u i l d . In 1898 a fire destroyed m u c h of Park City, including its Chinatown. A l t h o u g h the Chinese rebuilt some of their structures, i n c l u d i n g t h e famous b r i d g e , the losses destroyed m u c h of the city's Chinatown. 5 5 T h e o t h e r enclaves survived their fires a n d c o n t i n u e d . However, the cost of rebuilding doubtless p u t a drag on further economic growth.

O t h e r factors c o n t r i b u t e d even m o r e to t h e d e m i s e of the Chinatowns. Anti-Chinese laws a n d o r d i n a n c e s at the national a n d local levels sought either to discourage the prosperity of the Chinese or to simply harass them. Beginning in 1882 a series of federal exclusion laws severely curtailed the n u m b e r of Chinese allowed to e n t e r the country. S u p p o r t for the legislation was n o t universal. T h e Salt Lake Herald called the bill "wicked" a n d "un-American." Nevertheless, ten years later t h e Geary Act c o n t i n u e d t h e exclusion p e r i o d for a n o t h e r ten years a n d sought to register all Chinese in the c o u n t r y 53 Dennis Bingham, "The Chinese in the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad," May 18, 1969, p. 11, MS, LDS Church Archives; Utah Reporter, September 27, 1870; Deseret Evening Nexus, February 8, 1902, July 13, 1907, December 14, 1895; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 106.

54 Salt Lake Herald, February 12, 1890, June 4, 1889, September 27, 1871; Salt Lake Tribune, October 30, 1879, August 14, 1883; Daily Corinne Reporter, September 25, 1871, October 13, 19, 1871, September 27 1875.

55 Silver Reef Miner, May 31, 1879, July 12, 1879; Park Mining Record, June 25, 1898; Katherine Reynolds, Park City (Los Angeles: Weller Institute, 1984); Elliot, "Chinatown," p. 9.

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with a photo-identification system. T h e Deseret Evening News saw this bill as a better alternative to expulsion and hypothesized that it would have the same effect since "the race would in course of time dwindle away." All across t h e c o u n t r y t h e C h i n e s e refused to register. T h e Deseret Evening News even feared the Chinese would resort to reprisals.

None occurred a n d after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional most of Utah's Chinese complied with the law.56 Local laws also sought to restrict the Chinese. In 1874 Salt Lake City declared Chinese laundries to be public nuisances a n d fined several Chinese for operating them. Later that year the council passed a statute a i m e d at t h e C h i n e s e to k e e p t h e m from b u t c h e r i n g pigs within the city limits. A n o t h e r o r d i n a n c e forbade the Chinese to let off fireworks to celebrate their New Year. They also had to pay the poll tax even though they were not citizens. 57 Both O g d e n and Salt Lake City considered zoning to restrict the Chinese. T h e O g d e n City Council received a petition to forbid the establishment of any Chinese laundries along major thoroughfares but did not enact such a law. In 1874 the Salt Lake City Council received a petition to create a Chinese ghetto by requiring Chinese wash houses to relocate in a particular zone. T h e council passed the matter on to the city marshal who presumably found it unenforceable since he did n o t follow through on it. Eight years later support again grew to have the city declare the Chinese to be a "common nuisance" and restricted to a certain area. In 1883 Jim Lung asked the city to designate an area where wash houses could locate a n d drain off their wash water. T h e council debated an ordinance to place all Chinese wash houses outside the city limits. O t h e r Salt Lake Chinese soon made it quite clear t h a t J i m L u n g did n o t speak for t h e m a n d p r o t e s t e d any effort to move them out of the city, fearing it would drive them out of business.

Jack Fong told authorities that an unidentified white m a n h a d paid J i m to submit the petition a n d that some Chinese were so incensed they wanted to kill him. Given that information the city d r o p p e d the idea. 58 T h e federal laws proved particularly effective in contributing to 56 Park Mining Record, March 3, 1894; Deseret Evening Nexus, April 22, September 12, 1892; Salt Lake Herald, April 19, 1882, April 11, 1893.

57 Deseret Evening News, August 21, 1874; Salt Lake Herald, November 25, August 17, 1874, January 28, 1887; Salt Lake Tribune, January 25, 1899.

58 Ogden Junction, February 1, 1879; Salt Lake Herald, August 21, 1874, September 8, 1882, November 11, 1883; Salt Lake City Council Minutes, August 18, 1874; Deseret Evening News, June 21, 1882; Salt Lake Tribune, September 19, October 14, 1883.

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the demise of Utah's Chinatowns by placing restrictions on continued Chinese immigration. Local statutes, on the other hand, did little to directly i m p e d e t h e m o v e m e n t s of C h i n e s e . Equally, i m p o r t a n t , t h o u g h , they did n o t h i n g to e n c o u r a g e growth of t h e C h i n e s e enclaves. Rather, they articulated an anti-Chinese attitude that continued to remind the Chinese they were n o t welcome. A 1901 article in the Deseret Evening News maintained that the Chinese contributed very little to the American economy either as producers or consumers.

A s e c o n d article, a year later, u r g e d c o n t i n u e d exclusion of t h e C h i n e s e as t h e r e was "no reason why t h e U n i t e d States s h o u l d be o p e n e d to them." 59 T h e population of the Chinese enclaves diminished for several reasons: T h e Chinese came as sojournersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as did many immigrants from southern Europe, seeking financial opportunities in the United States a n d returning h o m e to live out their years in an improved economic a n d social position. As many of the Chinese who came in the late n i n e t e e n t h century advanced in years they did r e t u r n to China.

This v o l u n t a r y o u t - m i g r a t i o n d e p l e t e d t h e p o p u l a t i o n of U t a h ' s Chinatowns. Occasionally, forced migration occurred. According to o n e s o u r c e , a vigilante c o m m i t t e e in 1886 forced t h e C h i n e s e in Corinne aboard a Central Pacific train a n d warned them that if they r e t u r n e d they would be killed. Bingham, with a population of largely Slavic miners, reportedly ran its Chinese out in 1880 due to a r u m o r e d case of leprosy in that city's Chinatown. At other times migration was voluntary. As early as the 1870s Chinese began leaving Utah for the gold fields of Montana and Idaho.

T h e C h i n e s e c o n t i n u e d to c o m e a n d go as o p p o r t u n i t i e s b e c a m e available. By the t u r n of the century, the remaining Chinese consisted mostly of older m e n . Surprisingly, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-96 did little to draw Chinese h o m e to s u p p o r t their country's o c c u p a t i o n of Korea. A white o b s e r v e r n o t e d t h a t Salt Lake Chinese showed little interest in the course of the war a n d n o interest in fighting the J a p a n e s e . In 1906 the J i n g Dynasty, in an appare n t a t t e m p t to regain the p o p u l a r s u p p o r t of the p e o p l e , assumed the responsibility of transporting all Chinese laborers back to China without charge provided they h a d some form of disability or were elderly. Many Chinese left, b u t some like Ding Ling Ho of Park City m

Deseret Evening Nexus, December 31, 1901, January 17, 1902.

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Utah Historical Quarterly

r e m a i n e d in Utah to live out their lives. Ding died in 1926 at the age of seventy-two. 60 Chinese communities were also vulnerable to the changing socioe c o n o m i c p a t t e r n s of the host society. Although Salt Lake City a n d Ogden grew and continue to prosper, Park City and Silver Reef failed when their b o o m economies foundered during periods of economic retrenchment. Corinne lost its viability after the railroad bypassed the town. Chinese in all of these locations experienced occupational succession. For example, the d e m a n d for traditional Chinese enterprises like laundries gradually d i m i n i s h e d with the arrival of m o r e white women and the establishment of family life in mining towns. By creating and developing their own niches and continuing to interact with the host society largely at the economic level only, the Chinese soon found themselves identified with certain roles a n d unable to find different occupational opportunities. O t h e r ethnic groups also displaced the Chinese. In particular, Japanese immigrants assumed many of the positions formerly held by the Chinese railroad workers who quit following the Rock Springs massacre. Later, Japanese laborers worked for mining firms and became farm laborers, further displacing the Chinese. 61 E n c r o a c h m e n t also affected the Chinatowns as the host society gradually moved within the boundaries of the Chinese enclaves. As early as 1883 Salt Lake City began tearing down Chinese-occupied buildings.

By the late 1880s a n u m b e r of Chinese structures in both Salt Lake City and O g d e n h a d been demolished to make way for new buildings. So extensive was this destruc-tion that some Salt Lake residents declared, "China-town is d o o m e d . " Its r e p o r t e d d e a t h was p r e m a t u r e . T h e Chinese enclaves c o n t i n u e d into the twentieth century; however, by 1914 the p o p u l a t i o n h a d b e g u n to decline dramatically. T h e Great Depression forced most of the remaining Chinese stores to close, and many Utah Chinese moved to California in search of better economic opportunities. In 1940 Chinese vacated the last large tenement in Plum Alley as crews prepared to demolish it. Many of the displaced Chinese left Utah. T h e last remnants of Plum Alley came down in 1952 when "" Lucius Beebe, The Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroads (Berkelev, Calif.: Howell-North, 1963), pp. 152-53; Salt Lake Tribune, April 27, 1880; Utah Reporter, April 16, 1870; Corinne Daily Reporter, July 22, 1871; Corinne Daily Journal, July 14, 1871; Deseret Evening News, August 6, 1894; Chen, "Gold Dream." p. 118; Elliott, "Chinatown," p. 9.

61 Covington, "Two Years in the Desert," p. 68; Anderson interview, pp. 3-4; Journal History, July 26, 1901; R. D. McKenzie, "The Oriental Finds a Job: Changing Roles of Chinese and Japanese Workers," The Survey 56 (1926): 151; Helen Z. Papanikolas and Alice Kasai, "Japanese Life in Utah" in The Peoples of Utah, pp. 336-39; Ogden Standard, February 28, 1902; Richard O. Ulibarri, "Utah's Ethnic Minorities: A Survey," Utah Historical Quarterly 40 (1973): 222; Allan Kent Powell, "The 'Foreign Element' and the 1903-4 Carbon County Coal Miner's Strike," Utah Historical Quarterly 43 (1975): 145.

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95

workers razed the area to m a k e way for a p a r k i n g lot. A social vestige of the p e r i o d r e m a i n s in t h e form of t h e Bing Kong Tong. This b e n e v o l e n t association continues as a social organization for Chinese p e o p l e , b u t it is n o l o n g e r located at t h e site of t h e city's historic Chinatown. 62 Unlike s o m e e t h n i c enclaves that have tended to decay over several generations, U t a h ' s Chinatowns b e c a m e virtually extinct within o n e generation. A l t h o u g h t h e Chinese suffered m a n y d e privations a n d m u c h discrimination as a result of their clustering in Chinatowns, they lived in these enclaves b e c a u s e of t h e value they p l a c e d o n e c o n o m i c opportunities, Chinese man moving from Plum Alley on February 8, 1940. Salt Lake Tribune photograph in USHS collections. familial relations, a n d culture. T h e Chinatowns lost j)opulation to attrition rather than assimilation, for these enclaves did not serve as transition points for Chinese seeking to acculturate themselves into the host society. Nor did whites seek to secure the social participation of t h e Chinese. I n d e e d , some even sought to remove t h e Chinese from participating economically in the community. Despite their early demise, it is important to r e m e m b e r that Chinatowns nevertheless contributed a unique element to Utah's colorful past.

62 Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1883, September 6, 1888, September 28, 1889; Salt Lake Herald, September 12, 1889, October 2, 1889; Ogden Standard, May 11, 1888; Conley, "Pioneer Chinese," p. 74; Salt Lake Telegram, March 21, 1938, February 8, 1940; Deseret Evening News, March 1, 1952; Elliott, "Chinatown," p. 9; Ulibarri, "Utah's Ethnic Minorities," p. 227.

The Mountainous West: Explorations in Historical Geography. Edited by WILLIAM WYCKOFF and LARY M. DILSAVER. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. x + 420 pp.

Paper, $25.00.)

When I first saw the title of this volume I thought it must refer to the Rocky Mountain West or possibly the Intermountain West between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada/ Cascades. To my surprise, the editors define their "Mountainous West" as "a distinctive American subregion" that embraces all of the mountain ranges within the eleven western states. (They make a valid case for their decision to exclude Canada and Mexico but do not even mention mountainous Alaska and Hawaii.) They maintain that "both the physical and human geographies of these mountain zones have conspired to create a very different West than that encountered in the coastal lowlands, desert valleys, and arid plains below" (p. 1).

In the eyes of the editors these seemingly disparate mountain zones have five common features that justify treating them as a single region in spite of their physical separation. Wyckoff and Dilsaver describe these five characteristics in detail in a long introductory chapter. They then group the remaining thirteen essays under one of these five themes or under a final section added to consider "The MountainValley Interface." Three of the sections rate only one article while each of the others has three or four, making the overall balance of the book somewhat uneven. All of the essays' fifteen authors, except for historian Duane A. Smith, are professional geographers with a strong historical bent.

The first two themes treat the mountains as physical barriers to human interaction and as forested islands of moisture. The second, and probably most provocative one of all, challenges the common notion that aridity defines the American West. Its author, Thomas R. Vale, makes a persuasive case—by means of maps—for viewing "the quintessence of the West" as "a juxtaposition of dry lowland and moist mountain" (p. 141).

The third section considers the highland as storehouses of concentrated (but contested) resources—minerals, furs, forests, and forage—while the fourth focuses on the mountains as an area of government control. As the primary land owner of the region (90 percent), the U.S. government has become an embattled manager of public versus private disputes. The fifth theme looks at the uplands as a restorative sanctuary for the increasing numbers of people seeking relief from the more crowded lowlands.

The sixth and final section acknowledges the complex interdependence of mountains and valleys and features four case studies. Many readers of Utah Historical Quarterly may find the last two essays of particular interest. The one on "Colorado's San Luis Valley" is informative, but two of the authors' claims seem suspect to a native Utahn.

First, they liken the rural landscape of the Sanford-Manassa area, long settled

by Latter-day Saints, to the suburbanized Jordan Valley of Utah. Then they

Book Reviews and Notices assert that the LDS church originally planned to build its Colorado temple in little Manassa rather than along the Front Range where most of the state's Mormons now live.

The final essay, by Jeanne Kay, applies the volume's five themes to "Mormons and Mountains" in Utah— where the Rockies, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau converge. She adds an extra dimension by viewing them through the eyes of Juanita Brooks, local historian of "Utah's Dixie" (tied to St. George). Kay concludes by exploring too briefly the meaning of mountains to Mormons as Zion, home, and metaphor.

I view all of these "Explorations in Historical Geography" as valuable contributions to the burgeoning literature of the American West. Some impress me more than others, but that probably reflects my own regional and topical interests more than significant differences in the quality of the writing.

The Mountainous West represents a splendid sample of the research that historical geographers have engaged in since D. W. Meinig wrote his seminal essay on the "American Wests" in 1972.

The editors have done a superb job of integrating the six sections with short introductions and of insisting that the authors adhere to the book's five organizing themes.

For two reasons I have decided to adopt the volume as a text in my

97 "Amer/Can" West class to complement historian Richard White's It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own." First, it adds to the historian's approach the distinctive spatial, regional, and landscape perspectives of geographers.

Second, I consider most of The Mountainous Wesfs maps—even though drawn at a smaller scale—superior to those in White's history (taken from the Historical Atlas of the American West, which was published by the same press as his text).

Recent issues of the Western Historical Quarterly have featured articles that attempt to delineate the American West. Major disagreements among the authors underscore the need to foster closer collaboration between historians and historical geographers. I can envision two promising outcomes of such cooperation: (1) better atlases of the American West and its regions or states (produced jointly by the University of Oklahoma and Nebraska presses?); and (2) new histories that treat the mountainous and arid Wests as sets of dynamic regions—each with its distinctive cultures and economies and each tied in different ways to one another and to the controlling eastern United States and world economy.

LOWELL C. "BEN" BENNION

Humboldt Sate University Areata, California

Race and Labor in Western Copper: The Fight for Equality, 1896-1918. By PHILIP J. MELLINGER. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995. xiv + 269 pp. $40.00.)

Issues of race, ethnicity, and labor continue to intrigue historians of the western mining experience. Launching from the interpretations of earlier writers, contemporary historians fight to ferret out the meanings of race and ethnicity in the western metal mining

arena. Philip J. Mellinger enters the fray with a solid study of race and labor in specific western and southwestern copper areas during the critical years of 1896 to 1918.

In the introduction Mellinger states succinctly, "This book is a history of sig-

98 nificant social change among a region of working people." Here, the regional emphasis included key copper mining areas in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. This regional approach proves an effective framework in which to weave together complete strands of labor activism and experience gained by ethnic and immigrant groups who formed an incredibly fluid labor force during the period.

Within this construct Mellinger argues that western mining-camp labor history is basically working-class history, rather than ethnic history, and that no two mining areas were quite alike or typical.

For the author the Western Federation of Miners formed the basic cohesive force in welding together malleable, ethnically diverse workers.

In this regard he maintains that in the early twentieth century "racism and ethnic intolerance were declining in many parts of the mining West. . . . A measure of egalitarianism was beginning among working people, at least in the Southwest, Utah, and Nevada, during 1896-1918." He emphasizes the concept of "inclusion," defined as onthe-job change that led to ethnic-racial cooperation and cooperative labor action.

Utah's Bingham Canyon fit well into Mellinger's analysis which also included Clifton-Morenci (Arizona); Bisbee, Jerome, and Globe (Arizona); White Pine County (Nevada); and El Paso (Texas) and Ray (Arizona). Key strike and union organizational periods are discussed and analyzed in order to illustrate a main point of the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that the "copper companies helped create the racial definitions used throughout the mining West, and in the process, helped unify the copper workers."

For this reviewer the discussion on Bingham Canyon and the strike of 1912 is of particular interest, especially in light of other works on the subject.

Mellinger begins by acknowledging

Utah Historical Quarterly that "ethnic unionization was not gradual, happy, or comfortable at Bingham" and that while each mining district contained a unique mix of ethnic groups, "there was a distinct similarity of response to unionism, ethnic problems, and mining-corporation ethnic policies across the entire Southwest and lower intermountain West." Again, Mellinger rightly places Bingham in a larger, more complete regional context.

The role of ethnic miners, especially the Greeks, receives much attention in this work and in that of Gunther Peck, "Padrones and Protest: 'Old' Radicals and 'New' Immigrants in Bingham, Utah, 1905-1912," Western Historical Quarterly 24 (May 1993): 157-78. Mellinger points out specific differences in interpretation between his work and Peck's. Interestingly, both authors received inspiration and assistance from the principal writer on the subject, Helen Z. Papanikolas. Mellinger's main point relevant to the Greeks in 1912 Bingham centers on their "lack of cohesive group social structure." On the other hand, Peck views the Greeks as consciously radical workingmen who demonstrated a seriousness in unionization. Here again, Mellinger and Peck differ. Mellinger rightly labels the Greeks as the least organized, while Peck views them as the most organized.

Perhaps "ethnic" motivations hold the key. The only ascertainable "ethnic value" that both authors discussed is the hatred for Greek padrone Leonidas Skliris.

In any event, Mellinger senses that the union (WFM) played a key role in recognizing ethnicity and organizing immigrants and Anglo-Irish miners.

Peck sees the union as racist for having excluded Japanese workers. For Mellinger a key point here is that the immigrants were both the main participants in the 1912 strike as well as part of the leadership. In this context, the immigrants had demonstrated their

Book Reviews and Notices potential for achieving power. The Bingham strike needed union support and this assisted in the move toward "ethnic cohesion and unionization."

Philip Mellinger uses a wide variety of solid primary and secondary sources to illustrate his interpretation.

Ironically, he cites Gunther Peck's works as documenting some of his own points. The endnotes are concise and include some comprehensive discussions on their works and differing perspectives. They should be read thoroughly. In utilizing a regional perspective, the author demonstrates an ability to recognize cultural differences between and within various groups, such as the Mexican-Americans and "native-born Spanish Americans."

Certainly, the Greeks and Italians in Bingham Canyon also illustrate differences.

From the outset the author main-

99 tains that the book is about individuals and not groups. He criticizes other studies for looking at mining workers as "collective entities" that "tell us little about individual workingmen"; yet, his own emphasis squares heavily upon group-oriented activity. In stressing the "individual" Mellinger often ignores specific cultural behavior, labeled as generally "irrelevant" to the outcomes of the workingman's struggles.

In the main, however, Race and Labor in Western Copper should be read by serious students and those interested in western labor history. The work paints a broader picture of western labor, including the roles of Spanish-speaking miners, and continues the debate on the role of race, ethnicity, and labor in western history.

PHILIP F. NOTARIANNI

Utah State Historical Society

A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management of the National Forests since World War Two. By PAUL W. HIRT. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994). lvi + 416 pp. $40.00.)

In this intriguing book, Paul W. Hirt, an assistant professor of history at Washington State University, surveys national forest management from 1945 to 1992. He shows that Congress has allocated far more money to the Forest Service for timber harvests and recreational development than for wildlife management or soil and water conservation.

This work supplements more comprehensive treatments of the Forest Service such as Harold Steen's The U.S. Forest Service: A History. Hirt's most important contribution is his focus upon Forest Service budgets and the complex political and social forces that have shaped them.

The author draws upon a rich array of sources including oral histories; investigative journalism; Forest Service

publications; Congressional hearings; and the archives of the Wilderness Society, the Forest Service, and organizations representing the timber industry.

Hirt warns that his work "is not meant to be . . . disinterested." He documents the environmental casualties and economic costs of timber harvesting. But he does not balance his account with a full discussion of the economic benefits of timber harvesting or the economic dislocation that arises when the Forest Service reduces harvest quotas.

Hirt contends that most administrators in the Forest Service through the 1970s believed that the national forests could sustain greater timber harvests if the service intelligently applied technology and capital in managing the

100 forests. Politicians and timber industry representatives capitalized upon these convictions to increase timber production. Hirt calls this faith in technological fixes and minimization of risks a "conspiracy of optimism."

Conspiracy usually refers to clandestine plotting, but when we say that circumstances conspired to produce a certain result, we refer to a more impersonal, almost natural, intersection of forces. Hirt uses the term in both ways with varying degrees of success.

Hirt convincingly shows that many politicians, Forest Service administrators, and industrial leaders praised the abundance and commercial potential of the national forests. He convincingly argues that this general faith in technological fixes and "collective if tacit agreement not to question the wisdom of maximization" (p. xlix) conspired to produce high timber harvests. In the case of most Forest Service employees, "this was not a conscious, manipulative conspiracy" (p. xxxii).

Hirt alleges that some politicians, timber industry representatives, and Forest Service employees were more duplicitous, deliberate conspirators.

Utah Historical Quarterly Some viewed rhetoric about sustained yield merely as a "a useful ethical facade over short-term economic objectives" (p. xlix) and possessed "only token regard" for the environment (p. xxxvi). Budgetary negotiations were conducted in a "shadowy corner" which remained inaccessible "partly by design" (p. xxxv). The Forest Service "exaggerated" some figures and "underestimated" others to rationalize increased timber harvests, and some of this miscalculation was apparently "deliberate and hidden" (p. xli).

Hirt presents scant evidence to support these allegations of deliberate misrepresentation. Certainly the evidence does not demonstrate a well-organized conspiracy of government and industry. His evidence does show that as pessimism regarding the sustainability of high timber harvests increased within the Forest Service and in Congress in the 1980s, politicians representing timber-producing regions stepped up political pressure to obtain favorable timber quotas.

BRIAN Q. CANNON

Brigham Young University

Linoleum, Better Babies, and the Modern Farm Woman, 1890-1930. By MARILYN IRVIN HOLT. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. viii + 250 pp. $34.95.)

Marilyn Irvin Holt has taken as her subject "the domestic economy movement" and its attempt to reach out to rural women in the tier of states ranging from the Dakotas to Texas. She deals with the efforts of various agenciesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the home extension bureaus of the agricultural colleges, the agricultural press, the Children's Bureau, high schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to encourage improvements in farm living through a sort of women's counterpart to the scientific agriculture movement. From the early canning clubs that taught women the

latest methods, the movement branched out to touch almost every aspect of farm wives' existence, bringing them the advice of experts on subjects ranging from poultry raising to home construction. Many women, Holt argues, responded to this "self-help" movement. Even though "a woman might not have indoor plumbing or electricity . . . she found that she could do things to modernize her home, ensure better health and nutrition for her family, and beautify her home and community" (p. 200).

Book Reviews and Notices Holt does an excellent job of situating this movement with the farm economy as a whole and within the larger society, characterizing it as one of the many initiatives for improving American society to come out of the Progressive Era. She presents a convincing argument that farm women must be included in any consideration of movements for social change during this period. But for all her deft handling of the larger issues raised by her subject, Holt's treatment of "the domestic economy movement" is somewhat disconcerting. The confusion begins on the first page of her introduction where she states that "the domestic economy movement grew out of, and was a reflection of, the era's push for progress and reform. It centered on rural women and their education" (p. 3). To me, at least, the term "domestic economy movement" has much larger connotations. Holt seems to be appropriating the term to denote a movement aimed only at rural women and fails to provide the reader with any understanding of the historical development of the whole field of domestic economy. Moreover, her

101 focus is very much on "the movement" with the result that the women involved never really come to life.

Holt is aware of the sharply differing depictions of western rural women in recent scholarly writings. As she notes, "some writers underscore agrarian subjugation and oppression of women, whereas others see women as partners or see them as part of an egalitarian society." Holt herself is inclined to the "partners" school of thought. She agrees with Paula Nelson that "no rigid interpretive framework should be forced on the study" of western women (p. 6). No one would argue with that proposition, but it is time to start trying to explain the sharp contrasts between the women who appear in works such as this one and, say, the women of Deborah Fink's Open Country, Iowa (1986) and Agrarian Women (1992).

Holt's farm women and Fink's farm women hardly seem to inhabit the same planet.

J o ANN RUCKMAN

Idaho State University Pocatello

Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers: Peril and Heroism on the Winter Trail. By PAUL SCHULLERY. (Worland, Wyo.: High Plains Publishing Co., Inc. 1995. xvi + 158 pp. Cloth, $17.95; paper $8.95.)

It is almost an axiom: in contemporary skiing literature the more expert the skier, the more egocentric are his writings. With the admission, on the dust jacket of his recently published book, that he has spent "many years skiing poorly in Yellowstone," Paul Schullery confirms the converse in Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers. He demonstrates that the adventure sport of skiing can be described in terms other than self.

In his prologue Schullery states that

this is not a "proper administrative history or wildlife management history or environmental history" of Yellowstone National Park but instead a history of "something that necessarily falls through the cracks" of more formal studies. He intends it to be an "adventure history" that "has always been extraordinarily important to Yellowstone." Readers who select Yelloxvstone's Ski Pioneers will not be disappointed by his approach.

The book commences with a brief

102 stage-setting chapter, "The Winter in Wonderland," describing Yellowstone's pre-park designation visits by trappers such as Osborne Russell, their observations of area wildlife, and the region's winter climate. Beginning with Chapter 2 Schullery recounts the adventuresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and misadventuresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;of various individuals who entered early Yellowstone in winter and who lived, worked, and trapped there. Not all were honorable.

At the front of the book, beneath a note stating that "all author's royalties from this book go to the Yellowstone Association, to further educational publication about the park," there is an explanation that only the absolute minimum editing was done on many extended quotations utilized by the author. Archaic and incorrect spellings, Schullery states, were left unchanged to preserve the authenticity of language used at the time.

I, for one, welcome unaltered archaic spellings and misspellings; even more I value extended extracts. As an ardent cross-country skier I have often wondered how the old-timers made their skis and how they used them. An extract from an 1887 Forest and Stream article details how one of the early Yellowstone ski-riders made his "skees" or "skeys." Later in the book, extracts describe ski techniques used, such as "corduroying" and pacing oneself.

I found the four central chapters especially fascinating. Chapter 3, "Schwatka and Haynes," and Chapter 4, "Uncle Billy," present a study in contrasts. The Schwatka segment of Chapter 3 details the aborted Yellowstone expedition organized and led by the "name-brand" arctic explorer/ adventurer Frederick Schwatka. The Uncle Billy chapter counterpoints by describing winter adventures of Thomas Elwood Hofer, one of Yellowstone's "neglected early heroes" and for a half-century an ardent

Utah Historical Quarterly defender of the park. Chapter 5, "The Hardships are Inconceivable," details the U.S. Army's presence in the park and the travails endured by winter patrols organized to ferret out trophy poachers. The title, "The Capture of the Notorious Poacher Howell," describes the contents of Chapter 6.

The Haynes segment of the Schwatka/Haynes chapter traces photographer F.J. Haynes's activities after he took over the failed Schwatka expedition. Haynes is believed to be the first photographer to picture Old Faithful during winter. Several of his other photographs illustrate the types of attire and equipment used by Yellowstone's winter travelers during the late 1880s.

Numerous other illustrations and photographs supplement the well-written text.

In these days of potential decommissioning of America's national parks (as espoused by such congressmen as Utah's Jim Hansen) it is commendable that Schullery has not neglected his interest in educating and informing his readers of wildlife management and conservation issues faced by park personnel during Yellowstone's formative years. "America had a long way to go in sorting out its attitudes towards wildlife," he reflects on the 1887 Report of the Superintendent. "We still do, for that matter," he concludes.

Paul Schullery states his intent of celebrating the time and the individuals "who made such an extraordinary contribution to our understanding and protection of the park." Readers who acquire Yellowstone's Ski Pioneers for their collections will rejoice in his successful effort.

ALEXIS KELNER

Salt Lake City

Book Reviews and Notices

103

Trickster in the Land ofDreams. By ZEESE PAPANIKOLAS. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. xii + 184 pp. $22.50.)

The trickster in this title is Coyote of Shoshonean mythology. And the dream is of Utopia, which was to be of the Machine Age and is yet to be of Space Age. It is given to Coyote to laugh this machine-driven Utopia to scorn. And laugh he does, from one era down to another—the chronicle of this book.

It's a big undertaking. Coyote has appeared in a remarkable number of people. The Gosiute chief Antelope Jake was such a one. But so was Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. And the Three Nephites of The Book of Mormon have played Coyote parts, as have Bishop Koyle, the dream miner of Nebo Mountain, and Willie Nelson with his old guitar, and L. Frank Baum, who wrote The Wizard ofOz. And these by no means fill out the list. It is almost as if Coyotes have been more common than tax men. Tricksters range all the way from hard-nosed Bill Haywood of the old IWW to a bedaubed Liberace on the Vegas stage.

Utopia is just as various in this account. The conquistadors dreamt the torment and sought Cibola. The Mormons dreamt it and drove west for Zion. Our scientist/soldiers have dreamt it, too, and tried to lay out the MX missile.

Now, if, in summary, these themes and figures seem a little diffuse—it is because they are. And if such a jampacked volume would seem reductive—well, it is. The gloss is, indeed, severe when it comes to figures like Twain, who could have been a great trickster but who managed to be no more than a "pale, counterfeit version of Coyote" (p. 18). One wonders what Twain, the man who wrote the quintes-

sential American novel, would have had to do to measure up?

And one also has to wonder if the indictment of technology is not too sweeping? If our tools have not given us Utopia, as seems to be the author's lament, isn't it the case that with our tools we have nonetheless gotten up out of the dirt, shut out the cold, kept our teeth strong and straight, and in at least a hundred thousand other ways made ourselves live longer and more richly?

You will probably find yourself pitching a question something like this one back at the author, since Papanikolas's account of technology is neither very penetrating nor very fair. And Coyote should come to seem a pretty badly worn rug before you reach the last pages. Out of the native context, a totem figure can cover only so much.

That Trickster is not more substantial seems to me a matter, first, of the author caring little for authenticity of the Indians' mythology. In the appendix Papanikolas frankly excuses his work: "I've made up a story less about the Dust People than about myself. . . .

I haven't hesitated to combine elements . . . I haven't hesitated to embellish" (p. 157).

Nor has he resisted another authorial temptation, that being the highly mannered, highly affected style of the European post-structuralists. We might share in the author's lament for the loss of the Gosiute culture, but the loss of the little subculture of post-structuralism will be no privation.

RUSSELL BURROWS

Weber State University

Book Notices A Letters from Wupatki: Courtney Reeder Jones. Edited by

LISA RAPPAPORT.

(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995. xxx + 151 pp. Cloth, $24.95; paper, $13.95.)

In May of 1938 Courtney Reeder Jones, a newlywed bride of two weeks, moved with her husband to Wupatki National Monument. He worked as the park ranger, she as a faithful helpmate, while together they experienced various cultural lifestyles of Arizona. For part of the time they lived in an 800year-old Indian ruin until the Park Service built a larger home. The couple also became close friends with their Navajo neighbors, observed animal and plant life, and traveled to various parks and monuments throughout the region. But primarily they shared a mutual compatibility and love for the area, captured in these edited letters that provide a feeling for Park Service life in the rural Southwest around the time of World War II.

Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess. By RICHARD S. VAN WAGONER. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994. x +493 pp. $28.95.)

Although he never spent time in Utah, Sidney Rigdon was an important figure in the early history of Mormonism. As a trained minister he was able to lend structure and substance to much of the church's early theology and influenced Joseph Smith in a variety of ways. Troubled by manic

depression and an eccentric personality, he was destined to run afoul of church leaders eventually. With his final subjugation by Brigham Young in 1844, he relocated to Pittsburgh and then the Cumberland Valley, becoming the spiritual ancestor to a Church of Christ sect that still thrives today.

This well-researched, well-written book won the Mormon History Association's 1995 Ella Larsen Turner Award for Best Biography.

Kit Carson Days, 1809-1868. By EDWIN L. SABIN. 2 vols. (1935; revised ed.; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. xxx + 996 pp. Paper, $16.00 each.)

Wrangler, teamster, trapper, soldier, guide, courier, scout, and Indian agent, Kit Carson jammed more activity and excitement into his life than most men ever dream about. His grand adventure did not completely end with his death in 1868 at the relatively young age of fifty-eight; rather, he almost immediately boarded a historiographical rollercoaster that has since taken him to the heights of mythic heroism and to the depths of vilification. He presently enjoys a mood of forgiveness among historians; thus the reissue of this friendly biography, handsomely packaged in a Bison Book edition. Marc Simmons's brief but enlightening introduction offers a caveat or two then a welcome assurance that this once standard work, "from whose pages the real Kit Carson shines," is still a worthy read.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Department of Community and Economic Development Division of State History

BOARD OF STATE HISTORY L. Goss, Salt Lake City, 1999 Chair CAROL CORNWALL MADSEN, Salt Lake City, 1997 Vice-Chair MAX J. EVANS, Salt Lake City Secretary MARILYN CONOVER BARKER, Salt Lake City, 1999 DAVID L. BIGLER, Sandy, 1997 BOYD A. BLACKNER, Salt Lake City, 1997 LORI HUNSAKER, Brigham City, 1997 CHRISTIE SMITH NEEDHAM, Logan, 1997 RICHARD W. SADLER, Ogden, 1999 PENNY SAMPINOS, Price, 1999 AUGUSTINE TRUJILLO, Salt Lake City, 1999 PETER

JERRY WYLIE, Ogden, 1997

ADMINISTRATION MAX J. EVANS, Director WILSON G. MARTIN, Associate Director PATRICIA SMITH-MANSFIELD, Assistant Director STANFORD J. LAYTON, Managing Editor

The Utah State Historical Society was organized in 1897 by public-spirited Utahns to collect, preserve, and publish Utah and related history. Today, under state sponsorship, the Society fulfills its obligations by publishing the Utah Historical Quarterly and other historical materials; collecting historic Utah artifacts; locating, documenting, and preserving historic and prehistoric buildings and sites; and maintaining a specialized research library. Donations and gifts to the Society's programs, museum, or its library are encouraged, for only through such means can it live up to its responsibility of preserving the record of Utah'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 National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as anrended.

This program receives financial 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.