Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, January 1995 After the Mormons arrived in Utah, a Board of Regents was organized by Brigham Young to establish a university. With a growing demand for children’s education, Young and others felt that a university was needed to train men and women as elementary schoolteachers. The Board of Regents began the task by plotting the …
When the Horn Silver Mine Crashed in
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, January 1996 The story of the Horn Silver Mine, one of the great producers in Utah and American mining history, reads like pulp fiction: Two prospectors casually discover a rich ore body, a bankrupt financier promotes the venture, the boomtown of Frisco becomes one of the wildest mining camps in the West with a murder …
Sister Augusta and Catholic Education in Utah
Bernice M. Mooney and Miriam M. Murphy History Blazer, June 1996 The most striking figure in the early history of Catholic women’s work in Utah was a Holy Cross nun, Sister Augusta. Born Amanda Anderson in 1830 in Virginia, she was reared after her mother’s death by an aunt who lived on a ranch in Ohio. The ranch had a …
Father Lawrence Scanlan Established the Catholic Church in Utah
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, September 1995 When Father Lawrence Scanlan, a Catholic Priest, arrived in Utah nearly a century had passed since Fathers Dominguez and Escalante had led their famous expedition through the rugged Utah terrain. In the interim, the Catholic history of Utah was only lightly speckled with visits by traders, explorers, and missionaries of that faith, none …
The Wenner Family Enjoyed Life on Fremont Island
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, May 1995 When Kate and Uriah James Wenner arrived in Salt Lake City in 1880 they expected to establish permanent residence in the city. The newlyweds built a home on East South Temple, and Wenner opened a law office. The couple soon became prominent members of Salt Lake society. In 1883 Wenner was appointed as …
Temple Square
C. Mark Hamilton Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Temple Square is the most visited site in the state of Utah. Its popularity can be attributed to its central geographic location in the capital city, to the national popularity of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and to the general interest in the historic tabernacle and Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus …
The Pioneer’s Cost of Living Versus Today’s
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, January 1996 Sometimes it is tempting to look on the Victorian era in America as a golden age, forgetting that pioneers in Utah struggled for food, shelter, and the amenities of life just as we do. Occasionally, an entry in a 19th-century diary or a letter reveals the actual dollar amounts of their struggle. Because here …
Welshman Dan Jones Was One of Zion’s Busiest Bees
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, February 1996 One of Utah’s more colorful founders was Dan Jones, so beloved by Mormon immigrants from Wales that he was called “the Welsh apostle.” As a speaker he was said to have captivated audiences for up to three hours at a time, wrenching tears and laughter from believer and nonbeliever alike. He saturated Wales with …
Jenny Baker Stanford Bridged the Mormon-Gentile Gap
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, December 1995 Much has been written about Mormon-Gentile conflict in early Utah. But at least one non-Mormon came, saw, and conquered the hearts of her pioneer Mormon friends. Jenny Baker was born in London in 1850. Her law-clerk father, after release from debtor’s prison, abandoned the family, causing it to break up. Jenny, the youngest, was …
Businesswoman Fanny Brooks Helped Establish the Jewish Community in Utah
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, June 1995 As the first Jewish family to settle in pioneer Utah, Isabella and Julius Brooks and their children had a lot of adjustments to make when they arrived in Salt Lake City in 1864. But the initial awkwardness soon wore away as the Brooks family became accepted members of the Salt Lake community. Isabella, …