D. Robert Carter History Blazer, May 1996 A colorful hot air balloon tugged at the ropes tethering it to the beach near Great Salt Lake. “Professor” Staley, billed as the Prince of the Air, firmly gripped the dangling rope tied to the trapeze bar suspended from lines attached to the balloon’s netting. Hand over hand he climbed the rope and …
Hospitals and Health Crazes in the Late 1800s
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, February 1995 In the last quarter of the 19th century Utah faced rapid economic and social change. Many areas of life were affected. By the 1870s improved medical service was needed in the territory. Those physicians who had immigrated to Utah in the early settlement period were growing old. Moreover, the large number of new …
Methodist Women Missionaries Worked Hard in Utah
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, October 1996 Among the national endeavors of Methodist women was the Women’s Home Missionary Society (WHMS) which trained female teachers, nurses, and missionaries whom it sent to the southern states, New Mexico, and other regions. From 1880 to 1890 the number one recipient of WHMS funds and woman power was Utah. Methodist male missionaries first came …
Development of Brighton Resort
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, July 1996 In 1871 William Stuart Brighton, a native of Scotland, preempted 80 acres at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon east of the Salt Lake Valley. He, his wife Catherine Bow, and their children spent the summer living there in a tent. The horses, cows, and other farm animals they brought with them found …
Trading with the Nevada Mine Camps
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, December 1995 The rich ores of Pioche, Nevada, were discovered as early 1864, but the camp developed rather slowly at first. About 1870 a Frenchman named F. L. A. Pioche came in and began development in earnest. The camp was named for him. Soon two other men, William Raymond and John Ely, began working the Raymond-Ely …
1883 Blaze Spurred Creation of Salt Lake City’s Professional Fire Department
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, May 1995 For the first 36 years of its existence, Salt Lake City relied on the services of volunteer firefighters to protect lives and property. The volunteers strove to uphold their motto, “We Aim to Aid and Work to Save.” By the 1880s this system was insufficient for the growing city, and a professional force …
Old King Coal—A Long, Colorful Story
Nancy D. Taniguchi Beehive History 16 Utah’s coal industry has had a long and colorful past. Long, because of the early need for coal as a fuel; colorful, due to the people and events associated with it. Utah coal mining has had far-reaching effects on the state and the nation. Especially around the turn of the century, coal was truly …
Cowboys and the Cattle Industry
Allan Kent Powell Cowboys and cattlemen are a fundamental part of Utah’s economic and social heritage. They were in Utah before the first Mormon pioneers arrived and endure today as part of a western legacy that strongly influences contemporary attitudes and lifestyles of many Utahns. Cowboys and cattle influenced Mormon settlements and culture, rode side by side with the state’s …
Mark Twain’s Utah
Allan Kent Powell History Blazer, November 1995 Mark Twain has been called the “Lincoln of American Literature” and with good reason. Nearly every school child has read his most famous classics set along the Mississippi River–The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, published in 1876, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which first appeared in 1884. However, an earlier book, Roughing It, …
Arrival of the Episcopal Church in Utah, 1867
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, October 1995 May 5, 1867, is a date of special significance for Utah Episcopalians. On that date the first Episcopal service was held in Independence Hall in Salt Lake City. The Right Reverend Daniel S. Tuttle had been elected Episcopal missionary bishop of Montana, with jurisdiction over Utah and Idaho, in October of 1866. He …