A History of Utah’s American Indians, Chapter 3

  A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 “The Goshute Indians of Utah,” pp. 73–122 Dennis R. Defa A group of Goshute Indians, date unknown The Goshute Indians live in a little known and sparsely populated portion of the state of Utah. There actually are two Goshute reservations, the largest of which is the Deep Creek Reservation located on …

A History of Utah’s American Indians, Chapter 2

A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 “The Northwestern Shoshone,” pp. 25–72 Mae Parry In early historic times the Shoshone Indians were a large nation of Indians who lived and traveled over an extensive territory that included parts of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming. Usually groups of extended families traveled together in varying numbers according to the season and …

A History of Utah’s American Indians, Chapter 1

  A History of Utah’s American Indians, © 2000 “Setting the Stage: Native America Revisited,” pp. 3–24 Robert S. McPherson The writing of Native American history can be said to have started when Christopher Columbus first waded ashore on San Salvador Island in the Caribbean. It has continued ever since. What preceded his arrival–the prehistoric phase of Native Americans–has generally been …

Growing Up Railroad: Remembering Echo City

Editor’s Note: In an award-winning essay, Robert S. Mikkelsen paints a colorful portrait of life in his hometown, a key refueling railroad stop for locomotives traveling between Ogden, Utah, and Evanston, Wyoming. Born in 1925 and raised as an end-of-the-track townie in Echo, Utah, Mikkelsen highlights the intricate connection that he and his peers felt to the robust engines that …

Barney’s Hunting Prowess Made Porter Rockwell Feel a Bit Insecure

        http://www.sltrib.com Will Bagley, History Matters   Published: 06/30/2002 Edition: Final Section: Utah Page: B2 Brigham Young’s 1847 pioneer company spotted its first buffalo herd on May 1, not far west of today’s Kearney, Neb. This vast assembly of American bison was enough “to astonish a man,” wrote Apostle Wilford Woodruff. “Thousands upon thousands would crowd together. …

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 …