Early River Running Regulations in the Colorado River Basin

By Tom Martin River running in the Colorado River Basin has a very rich tradition of people hunting, prospecting, and recreating with watercraft. The first people to float watercraft on these rivers were Indigenous peoples using dugout canoes, rafts made of bullrushes, and skin-on-frame craft. The Spanish came next, boating up the Colorado from the Sea of Cortez in 1540. …

The Late Prehistoric Millennium

Steven R. Simms Utah State University, Logan Based on: Simms, Steven R. Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau (with original artwork by Eric Carlson and Noel Carmack). New York: Routledge, 2008/2016. It is tempting to attempt to know the last 1,000 years of Native American history by simply extending backwards from Utah’s historically known peoples, the Shoshone, …

Eons of Foragers: The Archaic Period

Steven R. Simms Utah State University, Logan From: Steven R. Simms, Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau (with original artwork by Eric Carlson and Noel Carmack). New York: Routledge, 2008/2016. The Archaic period spans over 250 human generations, over 40 times the duration of Euro-American history in Utah. In the wake of the Paleoindian explorers and colonists, …

The Paleoindian Period

Daron Duke No one knows exactly when the first people arrived in Utah, but they saw a verdant and colorful version of what we know already to be a diverse and visually stunning landscape. They came near the end of a period of Earth’s history referred to by scientists as the Pleistocene, sometimes called the Ice Age for the massive …

The Coal Industry in Heiner, Utah

By Mark Karpinski, Elizabeth Karpinski, Jonathan Dugmore, Samantha Kirkley, and Garrett Webb By the early 1900’s the United States coal industry housed between 70 and 80 percent of its workforce in company owned housing. Heiner, Utah was one of many coal company towns that emerged in Carbon and Emery counties as Utah rapidly industrialized and urbanized during the late 19th …

An Uncommon Footstep: Dr. Frederic Horatio Simmons in Idaho and Utah

By Steven D. Branting Rare are the individuals whose footprints remain in whatever places they call home during their lifetimes. It is one thing to live somewhere and quite another to leave a legacy there. One such person was Frederic Horatio Simmons, whose eventful life in territorial Idaho and Utah deserves to be remembered. Born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, …

Archaic Period

EONS OF FORAGERS: THE ARCHAIC PERIOD Steven R. SimmsUtah State University, Logan From:Simms, Steven R.2008/2016 Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau (with original artwork by Eric Carlson and Noel Carmack). Routledge, New York. The Archaic period spans over 250 human generations, over 40 times the duration of Euro-American history in Utah. In the wake of the Paleoindian explorers …

Emigration Canyon Railroad Served SLC Builders’ Needs

Becky BartholomewHistory Blazer, January 1996 In the late 1800s a building boom occurred in Salt Lake City. Concrete had not yet been developed that was strong enough to be used for building foundations, so granite and sandstone blocks were used instead. Quarries in Little Cottonwood Canyon furnished the granite. Red and white sandstone came from quarries in Emigration Canyon. Initially, heavy …

Bibliography on The History of Polygamy

Some of the best historical information has been published by the Utah State Historical Society. Published by the Utah State Historical Society: Beehive History, vol. 1-27. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society. History Blazer, Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1995–96. Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 1-69. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1928–2001. Utah Centennial County History …