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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 v. United States: the 1931 Riverbed Case
Water law in the West can be complicated. Find out how river runners helped the government decide who owns the riverbed of the Colorado Basin, and why that even matters to the public.
In the late 1920s, the state of Utah wanted to use the riverbeds…
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…
Utah State Symbols
In 2011 Utah state lawmakers voted to designate the Browning M1911 pistol as the official state firearm. The gun would be the latest addition to a surprising collection of historic state symbols.You’ve probably heard of official Utah state symbols…
Utah Nurses in World War I
Three of the many nurses who traveled from Utah to Europe to serve in World War I. As World War I intensified in Europe, so did the need for medical help. The Red Cross established base hospitals and field units throughout Europe, and launched…
Utah Midwife Hannah Sorensen
Learn about Utah’s nineteenth century midwives, who were unusual in that they were actually paid for their work as medical providers. Much of the work that sustained Utah’s communities in the late nineteenth century was done by women, in the…
Utah Lake’s Wicked Waters
Utahns love to visit beautiful Utah Lake for recreation, but the lake’s dangerous conditions remind us to be wary of getting too comfortable on the water.
On a calm Sunday afternoon in June 1883, Thomas Yates and some friends from the town of…
Utah Journeys: Finding a Way Through
Migration and travel have shaped Utah. And Utah has shaped the way we migrate and travel. Literally. Over time, travel routes through Utah have tended to stay the same. Utah’s ruggedly beautiful landscape draws admiration and visitors, but has…
Utah Jobs Report, 1900
Learn about a variety of jobs done by Utahns at the turn of the twentieth century, and think about how jobs have changed - or not - over the last 100 years.According to the United States Census, there were 73,840 men and 10,764 women employed in Utah…
Utah Holiday Feasting, Reveling, Surviving
As you're preparing for the festive season, consider a few vignettes from the 1800s telling how our Utah forebears feasted, reveled, and somehow made their way through the winter holidays.The first known Utah Christmas was a multicultural affair…
Utah Folk Music
Utah’s rich tradition of traditional music ranges from ancient and modern Native American songs and dances to a variety of European and American musical traditions.While it is not well known, Utah has a rich heritage of traditional music, both…
Utah Downwinders: Rural Activists for a Post-Atomic World
Atomic testing in the nearby Nevada desert had devastating effects on rural Utah communities, but activists calling themselves "Downwinders" banded together to demand action from the federal government.
Between 1951 and 1992, the United States…
USS Utah Silver Service
In 1909, more than 26,000 Utah schoolchildren helped purchase the silver service used on the American battleship USS Utah.$10,000 is a lot of money today. It was even more in 1909, particularly when it was spent to buy a bunch of silver platters and…
Uranium Stories
Those who journeyed to Moab during the uranium mining boom that swept Utah in the 1950s and 1960s changed the tiny town forever. When the Atomic Energy Commission wanted uranium in the late 1940s, its guarantee to purchase whatever could be found…
Unsung Heroes and Heroines of Utah Agriculture
Migrant workers from Mexico have long contributed to Utah’s agricultural success. Their labor has been essential to the rural economy of the state.Utah has long relied on migrant labor for its agricultural success. In 1918, for example, sixty…