Pioneer Map Leads Jefferson Scandal to West

        http://www.sltrib.com  Will Bagley, History Matters   Published: 05/06/2001 Edition: Final Section: Utah Page: B1 At the time, it sounded like a good idea. In 1846, adventurer Lansford W. Hastings wanted to open a wagon road across the Great Basin to straighten out the kink in the California Trail that detoured north to Pocatello to avoid the …

Early Utahns Had Dreams of California

        http://www.sltrib.com Will Bagley, History Matters   Published: 04/29/2001 Edition:   Section: Utah Page: B1 The rise and fall of the Mormon colony at San Bernardino, California, is one of the forgotten epics of Western history. It is an intriguing tale of utopian dreams, frontier conflict and defeated idealism. The story reflects one of the recurring themes …

Utah’s Early African American Farmers

Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, May 1996 In the 19th century Utah’s small number of African Americans worked at whatever jobs they could find. Discrimination and a lack of educational opportunities generally meant low-income, often menial, work. Some remained slaves until Congress banned slavery in the territories on June 19, 1862. Still, according to historian Ronald G. Coleman, “a few …

Utah’s First Territorial Capitol, Fillmore, Was Too Remote for Legislators

Only one wing of the Territorial Statehouse was built. Today it is a state park. Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, July 1995 Until 1851 Mormon settlement in Utah was confined mostly to the western slopes of the Wasatch Mountains. When Utah became a territory through the Organic Act of 1850 settlement patterns began to change. Since the new boundaries of …

Wildhorse Canyon Supplied Obsidian

Becky Bartholomew History Blazer, June 1996 In Utah’s Mineral Mountains, overlooking the west desert, is the entrance to Wildhorse Canyon. Here the terrain is rough, blanketed with pinyon and juniper forest underlain by sagebrush, cacti, and grasses. The canyon has no year-round stream. Above its mouth, Wildhorse forks into a small side channel and the main canyon. Lying between the …