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Lagoon: From Promenades to Rollercoasters
Did you know that one of the oldest roller coasters in the world is right here in Utah? It all started with a pond and a dancehall called “Lagoon.” Learn more about one of Utah’s oldest amusement parks.In the late nineteenth century -- before…
Legalized Water Theft: The Daniels Diversion
If someone admits they’ve broken the law, the government is not supposed to take up their cause. Yet that is exactly what happened when a group of farmers in Heber Valley stole water from the Ute Reservation for decades.
Water in Utah is a precious…
Linwood: the Town that Drowned
Every summer, thousands of people flee to the cool waters of Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah’s northeast corner. But few of them would know about the little town of Linwood buried beneath the water’s surface.Linwood grew near the confluence of…
Logan Canyon Place Names
Place names can make an interesting study for anyone interested in local and regional history. Two locations in northern Utah’s Logan Canyon illustrate.One of the most popular summer recreation spots in Logan Canyon was and still is a meadow on the…
Love Your Work: River Rat Georgie White
Do you love your work? Georgie White did. Her free spirit and appetite for Western landscapes and ferocious rivers led to a long, passionate career.What’s YOUR passion? Veteran adventurer Georgie White turned her passion into a career by…
Malad: The Poisonous River
Do you know about the mysterious food poisoning that gave Box Elder County’s Malad River its name?Throughout the nineteenth century, Northern Utah’s Malad River was the site of a mysterious illness affecting fur trappers. Rumors about the water…
Miracle of the Crickets
Most of us have heard the story about the 1848 Miracle of the Gulls. This week hear a new twist on that old tale – it’s the Miracle of the Crickets! In the summer of 1848, clouds of crickets swarmed into the Salt Lake Valley and threatened to…
Moson Kahni: The Winter Camp at Boa Ogoi
Located along the Utah-Idaho border, the Bear River is the source of life for Northwestern Shoshone people. They know it as Boa Ogoi and for hundreds of years, winters spent along its edge offered respite and rejuvenation.
The Northwestern Band of…
Moving Mountains: Origins of the Central Utah Project
The vast plumbing infrastructure of the Central Utah Project is the culmination of Utah’s desires to move water to where we want it to be. Find out how complicated and contentious this endeavor has been.
By the mid-twentieth century, the water of…
Mystery in the Marshes
The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge protects an important -- but incredibly vulnerable -- part of northern Utah’s ecosystem. This is no accident. Learn how a mysterious illness and community activism led to its creation.
Humans and birds alike…
No Dam Here! The Echo Park Controversy
As the population of the American West grew in the mid-twentieth century, so did the demand for water. Learn how the fight over a proposed dam in the middle of Dinosaur National Monument gave birth to the modern conservation movement.
Echo Park sits…
Not Bees But Beavers
Irrigation was essential to early Mormons’ ability to survive in Utah. Learn how they labored physically, intellectually, and communally to make the desert bloom.Looking back at the Mormons of the late nineteenth century, one historian joked that,…
Obstacle or Opportunity? Winter Shapes Lives in Cache Valley
Winters in northern Utah’s Cache Valley are harsh. To survive and thrive, indigenous Shoshone peoples and Mormon settlers were faced with the question of “Will the challenges of winter make you or break you?”
Fur trappers who wintered in…
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…
Pools During Polio: Transmission or Treatment?
When Utah joined the nation’s crusade against polio in the 1950s, officials weren't sure what to do about public pools. Were they a place where children got relief from their symptoms or a nexus for mass infection?
After World War II, the United…
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…
Prehistoric "Snowbirds": Fremont Indians' Life on the Move
Birds do it… So do humans. In fact, humans in Utah have been heading south for winter for more than 1500 years. Along the lower Bear River, where it stretches into the Great Salt Lake, are the remains of five prehistoric campsites. …
Provo Canyon Snowslide Ends in Tragedy
Anyone who lives near Utah’s mountains knows how dangerous winter avalanches can be. Today, avalanches are closely monitored and relatively controlled. But it wasn’t always so. Learn about the 1897 avalanche in Provo Canyon that ended in…
Provo Woolen Mills: Industry Comes to Utah
Learn about the Provo Woolen Mills, the first large factory built in Utah.Prior to the coming of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Utah's economy revolved mainly around agriculture, barter, and small-scale manufacturing. With the railroad,…
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…