David L. Schirer Utah History Encyclopedia Fort Duchesne was established by Major Frederick William Benteen on 20 August 1886, on a site selected by General George Crook, and General Crook soon took command of the new fort. Construction began in October 1886 and the reservation was officially designated by President Cleveland in September 1887. The fort continued to serve, with …
Camp Floyd
Audrey M. Godfrey Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 On 9 November 1858, amid gun fire and patriotic music, the soldiers of Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, raised the United States flag above their newly completed garrison. Named for Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, the post housed the largest concentration of U. S. troops to that time, in what immediately became the …
Colonel Charles F. Smith
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, April 1996 The 1858-60 diary of Captain Albert Tracy, an officer in Johnston’s Army, contains many enlightening glimpses of life in an army camp. The author’s vivid descriptions and understated humor make it a delight to read. Born in Buffalo, New York, on April 28, 1818, he spent some of his boyhood in Canada. He …
World War II Claimed the Lives of Four Utah Brothers
Linda Thatcher, Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, September 1995 World War II took the lives of many Utahns, but no family in the state sacrificed more for the Allied cause than Alben and Gunda Borgstrom of Thatcher, Box Elder County. Four of the five sons they sent off to battle died within a six-month period during 1944. “Few families in …
Women Workers and Housing Issues
Glen M. Leonard History of Davis County During World War II, many Utah women joined the civilian forces at defense plants and military installations. They worked as drivers, guards, ammunition inspectors, safety specialists, machinists, and in other traditionally male jobs. For most women, this was their first job outside the home. They went to work in slacks, a new phenomenon …
Utah’s Rosies’ Upshot
Antonette Chambers Noble Historical Quarterly 59 Spring 1991 Local newspaper editorials, the Mormon church (expressed in the Relief Society Magazine), and Utah politicians encouraged women to return to their homes after the war. Even during the hostilities and at the height of the labor shortage these opinion makers had counseled a similar course. For example, in 1943 the Deseret News …
A Utah Naval Officer Died a Hero’s Death at Pearl Harbor
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, March 1995 The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, shocked the nation and propelled the United States into World War II. The surprise attack killed 2,396 American civilians and military personnel and severely crippled the U. S. Pacific Fleet. The main Japanese targets were the U. S. battleships, including the USS West …
The War Effort at Home
John D. Barton History of Duchesne County Patriotism characterized life on the home front during World War II. On 2 January 1942, a large front-page headline in the Roosevelt Standard read: For a Happier New Year Resolution I Resolve To Give First Consideration During 1942 To The Defense Effort Of My Country! Five days after Pearl Harbor, the Uintah Basin …
Utah and the Cold War
Rebecca Whetstone Utah, like the rest of the world, was greatly affected by World War II. The end of the war marked the rise of two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. The two countries supported differing ideologies. The United States embraced capitalism while the Soviet Union supported communism. These differing economic systems set the two countries against each other, created suspicion …
Salt Lake City Had its Typhoid Mary
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, April 1996 Salt Lake City was a hotbed for typhoid, as were many other US cities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. People would hunt, camp, picnic, and pollute near the seven mountains streams that provided the city with most of its water. Sheep and cattle would graze near the watershed, barnyards were …