In 1883 Fort Cameron, which had been established a short distance from Beaver, Utah, primarily to protect white settlers from Indian raids, was abandoned. John R. Murdock, president of the Beaver LDS Stake, purchased part of the property from the US Army in hopes of locating an academy on the site. According to one account, he was assisted by Philo …
The Lehi Beet Sugar Factory
Leonard J. Arrington Beehive History 10 The Lehi factory of the Utah Sugar Company was the first beet sugar factory in the Mountain West, the first to use beets grown by irrigation, the first to have a systematic program for producing its own beet seed, the first to use American-made machinery, the first to use the “osmose process” of reprocessing …
Guano Sifters on Gunnison Island
Lyndia Carter History Blazer, June 1996 Making a living collecting bird droppings does not exactly sound like the ideal job, nor are mineral patents for the mounds of guano deposits on the islands of the Great Salt Lake particularly a great way to get rich. However, from the mid–1890s until some time after the turn of the century a guano …
Dream Mine
Jay M. Haymond Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The so-called Dream Mine is located east of Salem in Utah County. The mine founder, John H. Koyle, was born August 14, 1864 at Spanish Fork, Utah County. He married Emily Arvilla Holt on 9 December 1884. They had four sons and three daughters. At about age twenty-two, Koyle experienced a dream about …
Desdemona Stott Beeson Was Determined to Work in Mining
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, September 1995 Throughout history mining has been perceived as a distinctly male profession. Though women have been part of mining communities as boardinghouse keepers and cooks, few have achieved administrative or labor positions in mining. Desdemona Stott Beeson was an exception to the rule. Determined and ambitious, she combated social expectations and became a well-respected …
Sam Gilson Did Much More Than Promote Gilsonite
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, May 1995 Samuel H. Gilson is a colorful and versatile figure in Utah history. Gilson served as a Federal Marshal, prospected for gold, raised livestock, invented machinery, and defended the rights of organized labor. His name has become most closely associated, however, with a useful industrial hydrocarbon. Gilson was born in Plainfield, Illinois in 1836, …
Attic Papers Reveal Jesse Knight Ventures
Becky Bartholomew Adapted from History Blazer, May 1996, Text updated January 2011 In 1965 a retired military couple, Glenn and Gloria Foster, bought a turn-of-the century house on Mill Creek in Salt Lake County from its owner, a grandson of one of Utah’s few Mormon mining magnates, Jesse Knight. The house was not built by Knight but by one of …
Silver in the Beehive State
John S. McCormick Beehive History 16 The history of silver in Utah is a long and fascinating one. Some evidence exists that Spaniards and Mexicans, and perhaps Native Americans, engaged in mining at various locations throughout the state—including present-day Iron County, Utah Valley, Summit County near Kamas, and Minersville–before permanent white settlement began with the arrival of the Mormons in …