Linda Thatcher History Blazer, October 1995 The Utah landscape is dotted with hot springs resorts that have come and gone. Although a few remain, most are merely memories to aging Utahns. One such popular resort during the 1890s and early 1900s was Castilla Hot Springs in Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah County. The name Castilla was suggested either by the castlelike …
Colorful and Controversial Joseph Bracken Lee
Linda Thatcher Beehive History 18 Joseph Bracken Lee was born on January 7, 1899, in Price, Utah, the son of Arthur James and Ida May Leiter Lee. He was the second of six children that included Flora Lee Nicholson, Arthur Lewis, Robert E., Alice Lee Rich, and Ruth Lee Fraser. Their father served as Price town president during 1904–5. In …
Utah School Children Won Recognition for Philo T. Farnsworth
History Blazer, November 1995 One can little imagine the world without television. Its impact can be felt everywhere. Yet few people today know who the “Father of Television” is or that he came from Utah. In 1971 when Philo T. Farnsworth died he had still received little recognition for his contribution, the first modern electronic television. Farnsworth was born in …
Brutal Murders and Executions
Linda Sillitoe History of Salt Lake County When Theodore Robert Bundy found an apartment in Salt Lake City’s Avenues in September 1974, he was just another University of Utah law student. He settled in, attended classes, and socialized over liquor or marijuana despite joining the LDS church. Meanwhile, in Washington state, detectives investigated the disappearances of seven young women; their …
Some Meanings of Utah History
Thomas G. Alexander Utah Historical Quarterly 64 Number 2 Since 1847 Utah’s economy seems to have passed through four phases. The first phase was the Mormon Kingdom, which lasted until the 1880s. The Mormons tried to promote a relatively high degree of economic self-sufficiency, and they were relatively successful for about twenty years. Some vestiges of that Kingdom remain in …
Theater in Utah
Ann W. Engar Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Theater in Utah has its beginnings in the Mormon church and its support of innocent amusement for its people. From this support came the building of the Salt Lake Theatre, one of the best theaters of its time in the West, and the growth of amateur dramatic companies in almost every town and …
Equal Rights Amendment
Kathryn L. MacKay Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution was first proposed in the United States Congress in December 1923. It was promoted by Alice Paul and National Women’s party, but opposed by many of their colleagues who had worked to pass the Nineteenth Amendment (women’s suffrage) in 1920. The ERA would have eliminated protective …
After Many Boom and Bust Cycles Moab Just Keeps Pedaling
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, June 1995 Like so many other western towns, Moab, Utah, has experienced prosperous times followed by harder times. The various boom and bust cycles in and around the town have involved mineral products, agricultural products, and recreation. The town’s up-and-down economic history has reflected national and international events and concerns from the Cold War to …
Rise and Fall of the Turkey Empire
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, August 1996 Names of losing candidates, particularly in local and state elections, are often quickly forgotten after election year hoopla subsides. One such name, William Arthur Barlocker, came within 20,000 votes of winning Utah’s governor’s office in 1960 but was defeated by incumbent Republican George Dewey Clyde. To residents of the small southwestern Utah agricultural …
Central Utah Project
Craig Fuller Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Water has always been a precious resource in the Intermountain West. Junius F. Wells wrote in 1889 that “water is just now agitating all people in this region, and it is also receiving attention in other quarters.” Millions of people could be comfortably located in the arid West, he added, “through the storage and …