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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,…
The Guano Gatherers of Gunnison Island
Wings flashing in the sunlight, raucous calls filling the air, and tons of bird excrement coating the rocks. Learn about guano gathering out on the Great Salt Lake.Making a living collecting bird droppings does not exactly sound like the ideal job. …
Bear Lake's Monster Sized Secret
Like the famous Loch Ness in Scotland, Utah’s Bear Lake keeps a monster-sized secret in its watery depths. Located at the top of Logan Canyon on the Idaho border, Bear Lake has been at the center of “monster sighting” stories since at least…
The Escalante-Dominguez Expedition
In 1776, the same year the Declaration of Independence was signed, a group of Spanish explorers entered present-day Utah Valley. Led by two Franciscan friars named Silvestre Velez de Escalante and Francisco Dominguez, the expedition was launched to…
The Strawberry Valley Project
A federal project diverted water promised to the Ute Tribe into southern Utah County. This water grab harmed Ute claims to land in the Uintah Basin. In 1905 the federal government authorized the Strawberry Valley Project. Designed to divert water…
Settling Bluff
Learn about the harrowing expedition that settled the tiny San Juan County community of Bluff!In 1888, a hardy group of Mormon settlers founded the town of Bluff, Utah. The party, which has since become known as the Hole-In-The-Rock Expedition, had…
The Thistle Mudslide
A giant landslide in April 1983 obliterated the tiny town of Thistle in Utah County.In 1983, the most costly landslide in US history swept down on the tiny town of Thistle, damming up the Spanish Fork River, and severing the rail line that connects…
Building Flaming Gorge
Controversy over public lands has a long history in Utah. The construction of Flaming Gorge Dam was met with resistance, and opinions over the finished product were mixed.In 1968, the Flaming Gorge Dam in Daggett County was dedicated by Ladybird…
The City of Corinne
A steamboat called City of Corinne has been called the “most imposing boat that has ever sailed the Great Salt Lake”.In 1871, the Steamboat City of Corinne was launched into the wide channel of the Bear River near the settlement that shared its…
The Lucin Cutoff
The hundred-mile-long Lucin Cutoff was engineered using earth and wood to allow trains to cross the Great Salt Lake.In 1904, trains began rumbling across the Lucin Cutoff, a unique specimen of railroad engineering that except for brief contact with…
Twenty Wells
A site near present-day Grantsville provided temporary relief to the Donner party before their dangerous push across the Great Salt Lake Desert.In 1846, a series of overland parties found relief at a site on the south end of the Great Salt Lake near…
How Antelope Island Got Its Name
Antelope Island was named by the famous American explorer John Charles Fremont during his travels around the Great Salt Lake.In the fall of 1845, the famous American explorer John Charles Fremont crossed over the Rocky Mountains into eastern Utah…
T. H. Jefferson’s Map
A mysterious traveler, T.H. Jefferson published a map of the California Trail in 1849. The map contained valuable information about the waterless stretch of desert west of the Great Salt Lake.In 1849, a map of the California Trail was published by a…
The Serracino Expedition
Persistent tales about a lost Spanish colony piqued the interest of Jose Rafael Serracino. Like many explorers before him, he was inspired to put together a search party and leave Santa Fe to explore the West. In 1811, more than three decades after…
John Muir in Utah
Naturalist John Muir found himself in Salt Lake City in the late 1800s. Muir was attracted by the dazzling landscape of the Great Salt Lake and Oquirrh Mountains, and wrote effusively about Utah’s scenery.In 1877, naturalist and future Sierra Club…
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…
Dry Farming
Adequate water for crops proved to be a challenge for settlers throughout Utah. Those in Box Elder County established a strong dry-farming practice, due to inadequate water supply.When the Mormon settlers arrived in Utah, they immediately planted…
The Ghost Town of Old La Sal
Ghost Towns of the old west are generally relics of the mining industry, but Old La Sal in San Juan County is a now-deserted cow town.Situated in the northeast corner of San Juan County at the foot of the La Sal Mountains, old La Sal was once a…
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…
The Electrification of Daggett County
Daggett County, home to the hydro-electric juggernaut Flaming Gorge Dam, did not receive electricity until well into the 20th century.Though it is now home to the hydro-electric juggernaut, the Flaming Gorge Dam, Daggett County, in the northeastern…