Allan Kent Powell Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 During the 1960s and 1970s, Utah was affected by the Vietnam Conflict in many ways. Utahns served in all branches of the armed forces; many were decorated for valor in combat, were held prisoner in North Vietnam, or came home without limbs and with other permanent injuries. At home, Utahns both supported and …
Strawberry Valley Was Utah’s First Federal Reclamation Project
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, May 1995 From the earliest years of the nation, American public policy has generally recognized agriculture as the best possible use for land. Thomas Jefferson’s veneration of the independent, virtuous “yeoman farmer” was shared by most of his countrymen. Policies such as the Northwest Ordinances, which established the method for surveying and selling public land, …
Marie Ogden Led Spiritual Group in San Juan County
W. Paul Reese History Blazer, April 1995 In September 1933 a band of religious settlers led by Marie Ogden chose Dry Valley, about fifteen miles north of Monticello, as the headquarters for their spiritual community. Shortly after arriving, Ogden purchased the county’s only newspaper, the San Juan Record, which she continued publishing. The only change in its format was the …
A Labor Inspector During the Great Depression
Barney L. Flanagan Historical Quarterly 54 Summer 1986 When you go to a road worker who is swinging along, whistling blithely while toting a ninety-six-pound bag of portland cement in each hand, and say to him, “Sorry, buddy, but you can’t work here,” you have to have a pretty good reason. When he tosses each bag onto a waist-high pile …
Utah Banker Marriner S. Eccles Helped Design FDR’s New Deal
Jeffrey D. Nichols History Blazer, March 1995 The Great Depression lasted from 1929 until war production revived the economy in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Although conservative economists argued that the depression reflected normal cycles and should not be addressed with extraordinary measures, the high levels of unemployment and general suffering forced policymakers to seek new approaches. One of …
Depression Memories
Helen E. Bunnell Historical Quarterly 54 Summer 1986 Our experiences during the Great Depression were toughening, spine-stiffening experiences that left lasting impressions, but not scars, on our lives. We were never hungry or cold or homeless or desperate for anything we could not do without. We struggled and “made do,” as a majority of people did, but we had youth …
The White Book Road Guide
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, October 1996 The White Book Road Guide published in 1920 by F. D. B. Gay was produced “from the standpoint of the man in the car.” This guide and others published by Gay not only catered to the needs of early automobile tourists but also reflected his desire to market “the scenic wonders of the …
A Utahn, George Sutherland, Served on the U. S. Supreme Court
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, January 1995 On September 5, 1922, the United States Supreme Court’s only Utahn to date was appointed and confirmed without discussion. George Sutherland was born of British parents in Buckinghamshire, England, on March 25, 1862. That same year, his father joined the Mormon church, and soon the family immigrated to Utah Territory, settling in Springville. …
In 1920 A Utah Lawyer Ran For President on the Farmer-Labor Ticket
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, March 1995 The short-lived farmer-labor party met in a poorly ventilated convention hall over a four-day period in mid-July 1920 to hammer out a political platform and to choose a candidate for president of the United States. By the end of the convention, delegates had adopted a platform that called for radical governmental reforms and …
Prohibition Failed to Stop the Liquor Flow in Utah
W. Paul Reeve History Blazer, February 1995 Nationally in 1893 a group of moral reformers organized the Anti-Saloon League. It joined forces with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to intensify the long-standing campaign against drunkenness and its harmful effects on society. These organizations advocated government intervention to regulate drinking. In response to such lobbying many state, county, town, and city …