Kent Powell History Blazer, March 1996 The sight of young boys selling newspapers on downtown Salt Lake City streets was a familiar one for much of the city’s history. As in cities all across America, the job of newspaper boy usually did not mean a set route with established customers who received the newspaper on their doorstep every morning or …
The Mountains Held a Treasure Trove of Minerals
History Blazer, December 1995 Gold seekers like the Donner Party passed right by the Oquirrh Mountains on their way to California. Ironically, they overlooked one of the richest mountain ranges in the world. The Oquirrhs extend approximately thirty miles. The northern portion of the range reaches into the Great Salt Lake. The southern part ends in small hills northwest of …
The Growth of Utah’s Petroleum Industry
Walter Jones Beehive History 16 Utah’s oil industry developed slowly in two distinct phases: a long period of exploration and a more recent time of commercial production. The exploratory period began in 1850 when Capt. Howard Stansbury, while on a survey of the Great Salt Lake for the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, discovered evidence of “petroliem” along the northern …
Copper Mining, the King of the Oquirrh Mountains
Philip F. Notarianni Beehive History 16 Copper mining has played a significant role in the industrial, economic, and social life of Utah. It has also affected the state’s geography. Copper has many uses. It is very important in the electrical field as it is a good conductor of electricity. Water pipes, architectural trim, weather stripping, and wiring are but a …
The Scofield Mine Disaster in 1900 Was Utah’s Worst
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, January 1995 In the early morning of May 1, 1900, several hundred miners of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company of Carbon County left their homes in the town of Scofield to begin another day of work in the mines. Some were looking forward to the evening celebrations at Odd Fellows Hall where festivities would be …
Games of the Coal Camp Children
NOTE: The Utah State Historical Society originally published “Games of the Coal Camp Children,” written by Marianne Fraser, in Beehive History 7 (1981): 8-12. When a version of the essay was first published on History To Go, the Society incorrectly attributed Miriam B. Murphy as the author. We regret this error and apologize to Ms. Fraser for it. Marianne Fraser History Blazer, November …
Castle Gate Mine Disaster
Janeen Arnold Costa Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 On 8 March 1924, in the second major mine disaster of the twentieth century in the Utah coal fields, 172 men lost their lives, including one worker who inadvertently inhaled deadly carbon monoxide during the rescue efforts. At 8:00 A.M. two violent explosions ripped through the Number Two Mine of the Utah Fuel …
The Salt Lake Valley Smelter War
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, April 1995 Americans tend to believe that pollution is a relatively recent phenomenon and that concern about the problem only began to surface in the 1960s. In the first decade of the 20th century, however, farmers in the Salt Lake Valley united to fight against industrial pollution. Although they won the short-term battle, the larger …
Utah’s Interurbans: Predecessors to Light Rail
Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, December 1995 Light Rail is not new to Utah. During the heyday of America’s interurbans, Utahns enjoyed the best in U.S. rail commuter technology. In 1891 Simon Bamberger bought several small steam engines and established his Great Salt Lake & Hot Springs Railroad from downtown Salt Lake City to Warm Springs four miles north. If it …
The Salt Lake City Railroad Strike of 1890
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, January 1995 Organized labor suffered many setbacks in the late 19th century. Workers in the “unskilled” or “semiskilled” trades found it particularly difficult to gain workplace rights. In September 1890 the streetcar men of Salt Lake City learned a hard lesson in the realities of worker/management relations. Streetcars were a new phenomenon in Salt Lake …