Browse Items (62 total)
Sort by:
Equitable Water Distribution: the 1962 Bear River Project
Utah has an insatiable demand for water, and the Bear River is one of northern Utah’s most abundant sources. Despite this, efforts to fully develop it have long been stymied by a combination of geography and politics.
All of Bear River’s natural…
Sinking of the Mabel Davis
Recreational boating became popular on Utah’s lakes during the late 1800s, and some entrepreneurs took major risks to make a profit. Learn about one captain who even went down with his ship!
In the late 1800s, steamers and sailboats dotted the…
River vs. Colonization: The Mormon Cotton Mission
Southern Utah’s unreliable Virgin River prevented settlers from achieving their dream of taming the land to grow cotton.
Believing they could “make the desert blossom as the rose,” Mormon settlers expanded into southwestern Utah in the 1850s…
We Can “Build a Dam Anywhere”: Survival of the Central Utah Project
The Central Utah Project – which is still under construction – began with plenty of optimism and ambition. But politics and the inherent difficulty of moving mountains nearly sank the project. Learn how it survived.
The Central Utah Project –…
Faking the Greatest Snow on Earth: Brian Head Resort's Snowmaking
Utah boasts the greatest snow on earth, but the pristine powder isn’t always nature-made. The fake snow saves tourist seasons, but at what cost?
Skiing is big business in Utah! The state’s geography allows for a light, fluffy powder that tends…
Water Shapes Utah’s First Black Community: “The Hill” at Millcreek
In the late 19th century, Black settlers in the Salt Lake Valley used the waters of Millcreek Canyon to create a thriving community of their own.
Where water is, people gather. This was true for Indigenous peoples of Utah, as well as Mormon colonists…
Powering Utah: Lucien Nunn’s Hydroelectric Empire
The search for more affordable, alternative energy sources is nothing new. Learn how a businessman in the late 1800s electrified rural Utah using a state-of-the-art hydroelectric system.
We take it for granted now, but electricity was a hot commodity…
The Hyrum Dam: Building a Dam, Building a Community
What is it about a body of water that brings people together? Learn about an infrastructure project on the Little Bear River that helped the Cache Valley community of Hyrum to flourish -- in more ways than one.
Flowing through an area of Hyrum called…
Selling Ogden’s Hot Springs
The Utah Hot Springs Resort at the base of Ogden Canyon offered city dwellers an escape into nature -- but at what cost? Learn more about selling Ogden’s healing mineral springs.
Utah’s hot springs have long been sought for their positive health…
The Dam that Saved a Town
In the late 19th century, the town of Newton, Utah was almost abandoned. Crops died, there was no water for animals or people… So how did the town survive?
Settled in 1869 on the broad plain of Utah's Cache Valley, the fledgling town of Newton…
“You Protect the Water:” Uranium Mining & Utah’s Native Peoples
The uranium mining and milling industry in Utah has had a devastating effect on water that disproportionately affected the health and safety of Native American tribes.
During the height of the atomic age after World War II, southern Utah was teeming…
Resurrecting Salt Lake City’s Buried Water
You have probably walked over a buried creek many times and not realized it. Underneath the streets of Salt Lake Valley are seven creeks flowing from the Wasatch Mountains. What are the costs of hiding this water?
In 1852, land surveyor and explorer…
"Old Scraggen" to the Rescue
Making use of the Sevier River for agriculture required some ingenuity after early Mormon settlers discovered that irrigation was more complicated than simply digging a ditch. Learn how an unconventional surveying tool nicknamed “Old Scraggen”…
Pleasure Cruising: The Galloway-Stone Expedition
The outdoor recreation industry in Utah is worth billions of dollars. But getting out into nature for simple pleasure – and paying someone to guide you – is a relatively modern concept. Learn about a river trip taken in 1909 that forecast the…
Feeding the Steam Beasts: Piping Water to the Transcontinental Railroad
Steam locomotive engines need water – a lot of it. But here in Utah – the second driest state in the Lower 48 – finding water to feed these steam beasts was a real problem for the railroad companies. Learn more about how they solved this…
Keeping Cool: Ice Harvesting in Utah
Ever wonder how people kept food cold before electricity? Learn how ice was harvested, stored, and used throughout Utah before freezers were common household appliances.
During the nineteenth-century, frozen water was a rare and valuable commodity.…
Raising Hopes and Oysters in Great Salt Lake
Have you ever looked out over Great Salt Lake and thought, “I’d really like to grow oysters there?” You probably haven’t. Learn how Utahns have tried — and failed — to cultivate this unlikely product. The Mountain West is not known for…
E.A. Miller & Sons: Big Company in a Small Town
Learn about E.A. Miller & Sons, a small family business started during the Great Depression, and how it grew to be part of the world’s largest beef producer.In 1935, in the small town of Hyrum, in Utah’s rural Cache Valley, Ernest and…
Howard Coleman: Stepping Stones to a Better Life
Meet Howard Coleman, who came West with the railroad and built a better life – one job at a time.Like many of us, Howard Coleman used his work as a stepping stone to a better life. As a black man and the son of a Kentucky share-cropper, his…
The “Reel” Story of Utah Silk
Have you ever noticed groves of mulberry trees in your neighborhood? These trees aren’t native to Utah, but were planted to support a pioneer silk industry led by Mormon women and girls.It’s hard to imagine silkworms thriving in Utah’s harsh…