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Water Purification Eradicates Typhoid Fever
Public health is a common good that communities have long rallied around. In the early 20th Century, the highly infectious typhoid disease brought health experts and Utah’s citizens together to demand clean water and upgraded public water…
Water is for Fighting: The Goshen - Mona Water Dispute
Mark Twain famously joked that “Whiskey is for drinking, but water is for fighting over.” Find out how the struggle for water between two Utah towns led to a lawsuit that resulted in nearly an entire LDS ward being disfellowshipped.
The small…
VJ Day in Utah
Victory over Japan Day, the day that the Japanese government announced its surrender to the US, Utahns celebrated in the streets. Celebrations were complicated by uncertainty and fear from the Topaz Relocation Camp near Delta. On August 15, 1945, the…
Vernal's Parcel Post Bank
Find out why the Bank of Vernal, built in 1916, is nicknamed “The Parcel Post Bank”.The US Post Office allows its customers to mail many things besides a simple letter. But the largest object ever moved through the US mail system was a bank. Not…
Verla Gean Miller: Traveler, Teacher, Persian Princess
Verla Gean Miller FarmanFarmaian – beloved teacher to many Utah school children – made one decision to travel that set her on a fantastic journey that changed her life. In 1945, Verla Gean Miller made a decision to travel to the eastern…
Vagabond Artist Everett Ruess
The wandering ways of a young artist and writer who mysteriously disappeared in 1934 into southern Utah’s rugged canyon country.Everett Ruess was twenty years old when he vanished into the canyons of southern Utah, never to be seen again. Born in…
Utopian Dreams: Russian Pioneers in Park Valley
A group of Russian pioneers sought a place to build their religious colony far from cities and government interference. Where else would they come but Utah? “Invest Dimes and Reap Dollars in Park Valley, Utah!” That was the promise of the…
Utah’s Military Industrial Complex
Hill Air Force Base is Utah’s sixth largest employer and military spending creates over $9 billion in economic activity for the State. Learn about the historic roots of Utah’s “Military Industrial Complex.”When US President Dwight Eisenhower…
Utah’s First Armistice Day
Across Utah, the end of World War I was met with large celebrations. The excitement across the state seemed to function like a collective sigh of relief.In 1918, the signing of the armistice with Germany that effectively ended World War I became the…
Utah’s Expensive Flooding Quick-Fix: The 1987 Bangerter Pumps
Out in Utah’s West Desert is a massive $60 million infrastructure project that hasn’t been used in over thirty years. Can you guess what it is and why it was made?
In the 1980’s, a flooding Great Salt Lake threatened transportation, industry,…
Utah's Rosies
You’ve seen her. She wears the red bandanna and a blue collared shirt, flexing her bicep with a look that says, “get to work.” She’s Rosie the Riveter, and Utah had an army of them.When American men deployed to the front lines during World…
Utah's Record-Making Aviator Russell Maughan
You’ve heard of record-making aviators Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earhart, and even the Wright Brothers. But who was Russell Maughan? Born and raised in Logan, Utah, Russell Maughan was a fighter pilot in World War I, and later served as a test…
Utah's Interurban Railroads
Utah’s interurban railroads were the predecessors of light rail in Utah. At the height of the railroad age, Utah was criss-crossed with rail lines. Many of these were established to haul freight, but most of them also provided passenger…
Utah's Front Lawns
Each summer, as the snowpack dwindles and drought restrictions come into play, most Utahns keep up a small oasis in the desert – their front lawns. Learn why more than half of Utah’s valuable household water is used outside to sprinkle this…
Utah's First Masonic Lodge
Utah’s first Masonic Lodge was established by American soldiers with a lot of time on their hands.You may be familiar with the imposing Egyptian-style Masonic Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, but did you know that this wasn’t the first Masonic…
Utah's Canary in the Coal Mine
Great Salt Lake is the natural wonder that gave Utah’s capital city its name. Yet, it is cut in half, deprived of water, and shrinking before our very eyes. Learn about the water story of our beloved Great Salt Lake – and the warning it…
Utah Wildlife Management: Trout vs “Trash Fish”
Stocking Utah’s waterways with sport fish is a practice that goes back more than a century – so long ago that many people may think these introduced species are native. Find out how this impacts Utah’s true native fishes.
Setting up beside a…
Utah Watermasters
Utah’s limited water supply needs to be closely monitored! But this is nothing new. In Utah’s settler communities, the local watermaster was a vital figure, although not always the most popular one.
Utah’s irrigation system of canals, ditches,…
Utah Votes for Bryan
Voters from Utah went crazy for Democratic presidential hopeful William Jennings Bryan in the election 1896.When it comes to politics, these days national news outlets list Utah as among the reddest of the Red States. But it wasn't always so.…
Utah Tithing Houses
Much has been made of the early Mormons’ communal work ethic and the effective redistribution of resources within their communities. But how did they actually organize these efforts?Life on the eastern edge of the Great Basin was not easy. When…