Thursday, November 29, 2012

Cache and Cachians

This is  publication put together by the Special Collections at Utah State.  It is subtitled Twenty Publications Important to the Study of Cache Valley.  It is dated 1976.  These items are from Special Collection, Merrill Library Utah State.  The twenty publications it lists, which would have been on display are:
1. Northeastern Utah and South Eastern Idaho, 1877 George M. Wheeler Cartographer.  This is the first map showing the valley floor of Cache Valley.
2. The History of a Valley: Cache Valley, Utah-Idaho, Joel Ricks Editor 1956.  I have this book in my possession.
3. A Detective's Experience Among the Mormons or Polygamist Mormons: How They Live and the Land They Live In.  Fed E, Bennett, 1887.  A look at polygamy from the side of the law.  Detective served mostly in Franklin area.  Available from Cornell University online http://archive.org/stream/cu31924031249455#page/n31/mode/2up  or through Amazon for over $100
4. A Soil Survey of Cache Valley Area, Utah: Parts of Cache and Box Elder Counties, United States Department of Agriculture, 1974.
5. Intermountain Railroads: Standard and Narrow Gauge,  Merrill Beal, 1962.  AMazon has for $10.  A review on line at
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/merrill-p-beal/intermountain-railroads/#review
6. The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West, Hafen, LeRoy R., editor  1965-1972
 “From at least 1824 to 1834 Cache Valley was the center of the Rock Mountain Fur Trade.  The great rendezvous of 1826 was held here, probably near the present city of Richmond.  There are numerous books dealing with the trapper era, but the ten volume work of trapper biographies edited by Prof. Hafen probably contains the most comprehensive data on Cache Valley’s roll in the fur trade.
Available through Amazon Books and excerpts online:
http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm/ref/collection/wwdl-neh/id/3767

7. Corianton, and Aztec Romance: A Romantic Spectacular Drama, in Four Acts.  Bean, Drestes, SLC 1902
A four-act play…is Cache Valley’s principal contribution to American drama.  The play was first produced in Logan’s Thatcher Opera House and was taken on several successful nation-wide tours by a Cache Valley company.
Online:  http://archive.org/stream/coriantonanaztec00beanrich#page/60/mode/2up
8. The History of Smithfield: Olson, Mr and Mrs. Leonard, Smithfield 1927
“The Olson history is in every sense a “commissioned” history.  It was requested by the Smithfield City Council on August 5, 1925, and published by the city two years later… While this work uses many commonly available sources, it was partially derived from interviews with Smithfield pioneers still living in 1926 and thus may be considered a primary account of Smithfield history.
I could not find this book on the web but this article cites this book:
http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/s/SMITHFIELD.html
9.  The Mormons,  Wishard, Samuel E. New York Presbyterian Home Missions, 1904
“Gentile History is the great unknown in Cache Valley history…Wisard’s little book outlines the early history of the Presbyterians in Cache Valley.
I tried to find ebook but not successful.  Copies (reprinted?) are available through Amazon, Alibris, ebay.
10.  Ten Years Before the Mast.  Shipwrecks and Adventures at Sea!  Religious Customs of the People of India and Burmak’s Empire:  How I Became a Mormon and Why I Became and Infidel, Metcalf, Anthony, Malad City, Idaho 1888.
“:Only one copy of this book is known to exist.  The autobiography of Anthony Metcalf it records the difficulties of being a member of the Reorganized LDS Church in Cache Valley in the 1860s and 70s.”
I have been unable to find any ebook, but there is internet discussion of a quote from David Whitmer and being a witness to the Book of Mormon, which people seem to use to try to disprove the witnesses.
11. Newspaper Supplements: Special newspaper editions The Journal New Years 1892 devoted to La Plata and the Cache mining industry, The Herald Journal Centenial 1956, Golden Spike Centenial 1969 Ogden Standard Examiner.
12. Ground Water Supply in Cache Valley, Utah Available for Domestic Usr and Irrigation, Peterson, William, Logan Bulletin Utah Cooperative Extension Service 1946.
13.  Brigham Young College Bulletin: Final Volume, Final Number, Logan 1926
“This bulletin is the last published work of Logan’s BYC, an LDS College which operated from 1878 to 1926.  This publication contains the proceeding of the 48th annual commencement with the tests of the addresses on the history of the institution.”
14.  Hometown Album: a Pictorial History of Franklin County, Idaho—Horse and Buggy Days and early Auto Era, Hart, Newell, Preston Idaho 1973.
“This magnificent volume with 843 illustrations of all phases of life in northern Cache Valley is probably the finest book yet to be published on Cache Valley history.  Mr. Hart has fathered and laboriously identified each photograph and compiled as an appendix a basic chronology of north Cache Valley from 1860 to 1930.  The volume is superbly indexed.”
15. History of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, Tullidge, Edward W. Salt Lake City 1889
“Volume II of Tullidge’s Histories.  This volume is the first historical account of Cache Valley.”
http://books.google.com/books?id=V9yNdroBfdgC&pg=PA137&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
16. The Trail Blazer: History of the Development of Southeastern Idaho, Danielsen, Marie, Compiler, Preston, Daughters of the Pioneers, 1930.
“This little volume remains the basic history of Franklin county, Idaho.  Compiled in the 1920s, at least partially from pioneer interviews, it is the primary source for all subsequent histories of northern Cache Valley.”
17. Cache County: The Eden of Utah, Logan, the Logan Republican, 1916.
“This “chamber of commerce” guide to Cache County was published by the Logan Republican in the spring of 1916.  It is apparently the first such publication in Valley history, a special promotional brochure designed to encourage investment and new population growth.
No ebook
18. Logan City and Cache County Directory, 1905-1906, Polk R. L. & Co Salt Lake City 1905
19. Geologic Atlas of Utah: Cache County, William, J. Stewart Salt Lake City 1958
20. The Story of Old Ephraim, Crookston, Newell J. Logan 1959
“Cache is a valley-oriented society.  Very little has ever been published about the mountains surrounding us or the wildlife therein.  Crookston’s booklet is one of only two works on the bears which once roamed the mountains and the valley floor.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

William L. Todd, Bear Flag Revolt

After watching the Lincoln movie, I was reminded of the role Mary Lincoln's nephew played in the Bear Flag Revolt.  It was he that created the Bear Flag which was raised in Sonoma on June 6, 1946 in which a few men declared their independence from Mexico and declared themselves the Republic of California.  William said he used blackberry juice for the star.  The star was to show sympathy for the Texans, and indicate in similar fashion California was leaving Mexico and hoping to join the United States.  The grizzly was added, a symbol of strength.  When General Vallejo, Mexican general taken captive at Sonoma, saw the flag, he said the grizzly looked more like a pig.  A bar of red cloth was sewn to the bottom of the flag, making a broad red stripe.  This is the basic design of the California Flag today.
picture of original flag which was destroyed in fire, San Francisco earthquake
recreation of original fag adding colors
California Flag
 http://bwardlehistory.blogspot.com/2010/10/william-ide-bear-flag-revolt-renactment.html
William Todd continued to help the revolters, running recannsance.  A couple of those with this duty were captured by Californios and murdered.  William Todd was also captured.  However the Bear Flag revolt was able to rescue him before he received a similar fate.
Those of the Bear Flag thought they would meet the same fate as the Alamo.  They prepared for final value as what they thought what was the Mexican Army approached.  However they discovered it to be General Fremont and his men of the U.S. Army.  The Mexican Army stayed in the Monterrey area, and did not challenge the Bear Flag Revolt.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Utah War

Utah War This is taken from "The Mormon Experience" by Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton.
http://johnstonsarmy.blogspot.com/  This blog has some nice quotes.
In 1857 Utah territory was invaded by a hostile force of American soldiery.  The events and influences that led to this confrontation are difficult to establish.  The conflict was triggered in 1855 when David H. Burr, a non-Mormon appointed to be surveyor general of the territory, found his work impeded by Saints understandably anxious about any official survey of lands that they possessed only by right of occupation, not by any explicit declaration or approval of Congress.  Burr and his assistants left the territory and reinforced the reports of Mormon skullduggery already prevalent in Washington.  Garland Hurt, and energetic Indian agent, added his disturbing opinion that the Mormons were teaching the Indians to distinguish between the “Mormonee” and other Americans.  Not willing to accept the explanation that Mormons had to adopt some means of letting the Indians know that they shouldn’t be held responsible for the brutality practiced by other Americans, Hurt alleged that the Mormons were planning to employ native Americans in a war of vengeance against all non-Mormon settlers and travelers.
Troubles with surveyors and Indian agents were overshadowed by continuing strife between Mormons and federally appointed judges.  After 1855 the Utah judiciary was headed by three non-Mormons: W.W. Drummond, George P. Stiles, and John F. Kinney.  While on the surface Kinney was friendly to the Mormons, he represented them to Washington as being seditious and unruly.  Stiles and Drummond did not bother to temper their distaste; the latter, especially, came to personify for the Mormons all the injustices of the territorial system.
The Mormons found Drummond to be a “lithesome specimen of humanity.”  Norman Furniss, a recent historian, wrote that he was “as unsavory as any man appointed to office.” Drummond’s flagrant association with a prostitute offended the moral sense of the Saints.  Perhaps most threatening was his attack on the probate courts, with Mormon bishops as probate judges, which had ruled on both civil and criminal cases.  At the time he accused Mormons of destroying court records, an accusation later proved false.  Offensive as his personal character might have been, Drummond played an important role in sparking the national reaction to Utah.
By the spring of 1857 the disgruntled officeholders were assembled in Washington clamoring for the newly inaugurated president, James Buchanan, to do something about the state of affairs in Utah.  Although he had not considered the Mormon issues important enough to mention in his inaugural address, Buchanan was sensitive to public opinion.  Between April and the early part of May he decided to replace Brigham Young as governor.  By the end of the month he had chosen an even more drastic course of action.  What had led him to these two momentous decisions?  We do not know exactly, but there are several clues. 
The Mormons had picked an awkward time to establish their semi-independent kingdom in the West.  The issues of slavery and states’ rights were already dividing the nation.  Northerners wanted to make an example of Mormon rebelliousness, while some Southerners hoped and anti-Mormon campaign might relieve the pressure on them.  One Southern leader wrote to Buchanan urging a vigorous Utah policy that would “supersede the Negro-mania with the almost universal excitement of an Anti-Mormon Crusade.”  The thousands of European Saints flocking to Utah made it difficult to ignore the “Mormon problem,” and in fact aroused some early anti-immigrant nativism.
But such considerations lay in the background as predisposing conditions.  On the front of the stage Drummond, Hurt, and others somehow persuaded Buchanan that the Mormons were in a state of rebellion.  They contended that through threats, boycotts, and murder the Mormon leaders hoped to drive all non-Mormons from the territory.  A stream of newspaper articles, pamphlets, novels, and public speeches enumerated supposed Mormon treacheries and called for reprisals as extreme as a holy war of extermination.  When Apostle Parley P. Pratt was murdered in Arkansas in may 1857, many newspapers greeted his death with undisguised glee.
Buchanan and his cabinet officers found themselves in a climate of public opinion that seemed to support any move to protect the rights of non-Mormons, suppress Mormon home rule, and eradicate polygamy.  The President became convinced that a vigorous anti-Mormon action could only be to his credit.  By May 1857 he had decided upon a show of military force as the best and quickest solution.  But he seriously underestimated the degree to which it would be opposed by the Mormons.  In the ensuing two years he found that his solution was anything but quick, and even the political popularity of a Utah campaign was to prove disappointing.
Indecision, incompetence, and competition for lucrative contracts surrounded the preparations of the Utah Expedition.  The first body of soldiers did not leave Fort Leavenworth until mid-July.  Others did not straggle out until September.  Within weeks they were plagues by foul weather and the indecision of their officers.  William S. Harney, originally chosen to command the army, was replaced by Colonel Albert Sidney Johnson.  During the winter Johnston engaged in a running dispute with the newly appointed governor of Utah, Alfred Cumming of Georgia and Missouri, who accompanied the troops West.  The Colonel seemed to be intent on a military victory over the Mormons, whereas Cumming was primarily concerned with acceptance of himself as governor.
Although Mormon leaders had suspected something was afoot, they first heard of the impending invasion on July 24, 1857, the tenth anniversary of their entrance into the valley.  Four dust-covered horsemen galloped into a festive assembly and announced that a large force of American soldiers was on its way to install a non-Mormon governor and prevent any further “rebellion.”  Buchanan’s action conjured up memories of Missouri and Illinois—of mobs aided and abetted by the military.  The President had even neglected to send an official communication to Brigham Young, who, in his own mind still the official governor, chose to regard the approaching troops as a hostile army invading Utah Territory. 
Determine to greet the invaders with force if necessary, The Mormons hoped to avoid bloodshed with “scorched earth” and harassment policies that would lead the invaders with a precarious line of supply.  Young called out the territorial militia and asked each community to donate men, firearms and provisions to the defense.  By the fall of 1857 eleven hundred men were fortifying the mountain passes east of Great Salt Lake.  Other parties were dispatched to burn Fort Bridger and Fort Supply, Mormon-owned outposts at the eastern entrance to the territory.  By November 1857 a troop of eighteen hundred federal soldiers and camp followers were huddling around the charred ruins of Fort Bridger, desperately trying to avoid starvation until spring, when they could resume their campaign.  Mormon raiders managed to burn three wagon trains sent to supply the expedition, destroying three months’ provisions and bringing federal troops to the brink of starvation.  Young added insult to injury by offering to provide the embattled U.S. troops with salt, flour, and cattle.
It was miraculous that the Utah Expedition did not end in a bloodbath.  Unleashing military force is always easier than restraining it, and for the Mormons to attempt harassment of the invaders and destruction of supply trains while avoiding the taking of life and open battles was, on the face of it, a delicate combination that would not seem to have much chance of success.  Yet there were practically no casualties except from frostbite and exposure.
Young’s initial anger at the Utah Expedition was tempered as he realized the futility of open warfare against the U.S. Army.  He cautioned raiders to do all they could to delay the force but not to heighten the troops’ belligerency toward the Mormons, but the official position emanating from Washington had already begun to change.  Through Colonel Thomas L. Kane, Young had initiated peace feelers.  While Kane was sailing to California to mediate between Governor Cumming, Young, and Colonel Johnston, Buchanan dispatched a presidential peace commission overland, an action motivated mainly by congressional unrest over the vast amount of money and manpower being used to provision and reinforce the Utah Expedition.  Both Young and Buchanan, therefore, now sought a peaceful settlement.
While negotiations were still in process, Young decided on a dramatic gesture.  This was a decision to “move South,” to abandon the entire northern sweep of the territory to the army, leaving men behind with instructions to set fire to any settlement the soldiers made moves to occupy.  Hoses Stout recorded the decision in his diary:
Thursday 18 March 1858: Attended a general Council at the Historians office of the first Presidency, Twelve, and officers of the Legion.  The object which was to take into consideration the enemies, whether to attack them before they came near us or wait until they come near, or whether it is yet best to fight only n unavoidable defense or in case a large force is sent against us this spring whether to fight or burn our houses and destroy every thing in and around us and flee to the mountains and deserts.
Adopting the “Sebastopol plan,” which had served a similar purpose during the Crimean War, yung was attempting to muster some national sympathy while demonstrating that the Mormons were not willing to submit to a blatant military occupation of their homes.  Throughout the spring the Mormons streamed south to temporary encampments near Provo and farther south.
Meanwhile, Governor Cumming made a trip to the Salt lake Valley, assured himself there was no rebellion, and returned to Camp Scott, the bivouac at Fort Bridger.  In April, agreement was reached that the expedition would be allowed to march through Salt Lake City and establish a position some forty miles distant from which it could ensure the rights of the presidential appointees without seeming to “occupy Mormon territory.”  In June, after announcing that Buchanan had granted the Mormons “free and full pardon,” the new territorial officers and an escort of more than fifty-five hundred soldiers, teamsters, and suppliers marched through the abandoned streets of Salt Lake City.  To the south, some thirty thousand Mormon faithful waited, fearful that their homes might be either occupied or destroyed.  Nothing of the kind occurred.  The Utah Expedition marched beyond the city and across the Jordan River to Cedar Valley, some forty miles south of Salt Lake City.  There they established Camp Floyd, named in honor of the Secretary of War who had supported the mission.
The peaceable march of the army through Salt Lake City, the unopposed installation of Cumming as governor, and the subsequent return of the Mormons to their abandoned farms and homes ended a confrontation that had been heralded as apocalyptic but had always had something of the incongruity of comic opera.  The President of the United States had dispatched the largest peacetime army in the nation’s history to oversee the installation of half a dozen officials in a minor territory.  He had done so without thorough investigation of charges made by a few disgruntled or economically interested individuals.  He had neglected to notify the Mormons or to inquire after their viewpoint, until nearly a year after the expedition was sent.  The Mormons, in turn, had once more been uprooted from their homes, interrupted in their development of the territory, and labeled a rebellious people.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Uncompahgre Utes: Leading to Their Forced Removal

This the second of three posts I am writing, using my Dad's thesis for material.  http://bwardlehistory.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-uncompagre-ute-indians.html
The Tabaguache (Uncompahgre) had very little contact with the American culture before 1858.  Kit Carson, who was Indian Agent for the Southern Utes, wrote this description:  They are by far the largest band of the Utahs.  Their main hunting grounds are within the limits of this territory [New Mexico].  They range from the Grand [Colorado] River [on the] West to the headwaters of the Del Norte [Rio Grande] [on the] East....They have never joined any of the bands of the Utahs that have waged war against the citizens of this territory.  I would respectfully suggest that and agent or sub-agent be appointed to reside among them.   They are by far the most noble of the Utah tribes.  They have not, as yet, been contaminated by intercourse with civilized man.
However in 1859 gold was discovered on Pikes Peak, and the Whites began to move into their area.  This resulted in an outbreak of hostilities on both sides.  "With this outbreak of hostilities Kit Carson changed his opinion of the Tabeguache, described them as 'wild and warlike,' recommended they be punished, and withheld supplies he was to deliver them."
In 1861 the Colorado Territory was formed.  In New Mexico the settlers encouraged trade with the Indians.  The attitude of Colorado was they had to be tolerated, and forced onto smaller and smaller parcels of land.
The original Ute territory covered all of the mountainous area of Colorado.  They also frequently left this area, to travel out into the plains to hunt buffalo.  However the same pattern happened over and over.  The Utes, usually through Chief Ouray, negotiated a treaty to cede land to the U.S. with promises of money and promises of protection from White incursion onto the property.  Whites would find some value to the property, agricultural or mineral, move onto the land.  The U.S. Army would threaten eviction if the settlers or miners didn't leave.  The encroachers would not leave, and so another negotiating round would take place.  Often times the agreed upon money would not be given, just enough subsistence to keep the Indians from starving.  Other ways of getting property from the Native Americans would be through surveying, and also by having other tribes cede property which didn't even pertain to them.  It didn't matter, once land was ceded it was never given back.
The last parcel, prime farm land, five mile square, called Uncompahre Park was promised to the Tabeguache.  At first it was surveyed smaller than it was originally.  Then White farmers moved in, as it was a prime place to raise crops for the mines, and finally a negotiation ceding the land for money which was never paid.  Eventually the cry changed from moving the Native population to smaller and smaller poor pieces of land, to "The Utes Must Go!"

Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Vanishing Indian

This is a footnote from my Dad's Thesis.
The "Vanishing Indian" is a prominent motif in American folklore.  There are many works of art which graphically portray this theme.  Perhaps the most famous of these is "The End of the Trail," a sculpture by James E. Fraser.  Displayed originally at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco in 1915, it is no enshrined in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Dean Krakel, End of the Trail: The Odyssey of a Statue (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1973).  It depicts an Indian warrior weighed down in deep despair, the point of his was lance touching the ground in defeat, astride a weary horse so exhausted it can hardly stand.  This work has been widely reproduced as paper weights and objects d'art.  I some of these forms the miniature reproduction is encased in a fluid filled glass ball which when shaken causes a white mica substance to move in the fluid adding the vivid appearance of the Indian and his horse perishing in a swirling snowstorm.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Swine Flu Epidemic of 1976

http://www.capitalcentury.com/1976.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112703248.html


The swine flu epidemic was felt by millions of Americans; not because they became ill, but because of the inoculation program.  There was reason to scared when a young military recruit  from the flu.  It was the same flu which struck in 1918-1919 and killed half a million Americans (including some of my father's family).  However in the end more people died from the vaccination than the disease.  (See the above links for more information.)  I got my shot this evening, with a new air gun type delivery system.  It didn't hurt much.  This is a report on the inoculation program in rural Hyrum, Utah from the Hyrum Crusader, November 1976

 Swine Flu Vaccines: Hyrum Residents Receive Shots
"No I'm not scared; I haven't really worried about it," Mrs Eldon Nielsen said as she waited her turn to be vaccinated for swine flu.  Mrs. Nielsen made this comment on the evening of October 29 when she and approximately 1400 other people were vaccinated at Lincoln School in Hyrum.
Marlow Archibald said he felt it was OK that the federal government was spending money for vaccinations, but didn't know if it was a necessary precaution.
The swine flu vaccination program is being sponsored by the federal government.  The vaccinations given in Hyrum were given by the Bear River District Health Department centered in Logan, with the help of several local volunteers, according to Dr Bailey, director of the Bear River District Health Department.
When asked why a special vaccination was being given this year, Bailey pointed out swine flu has not been carried in humans recently and therefore have no natural immunity to the disease.  It is felt that the low resistance to the disease could be dangerous it broke out.  Recent cases were reported in Kentucky last year and were the first since 1920.
Dr. Bailey also pointed out there is no correlation between this flu virus and other flu viruses.  "This (swine flu shot) has no effecgt on the regular flu shot," he said.
He also said the swine flu virus has been carried in animals for some time and has only recently jumped to men.
The shots are still pretty experimental, Dr Bailey added.  "They may last two or three years or just one, we'll have to wait and see."  This is the first time this vaccine has been used.  He explained this is why they weren't sure if people aged 18-25 would need two shots or one.
When quizzed about the use of the "gun" as a method of vaccination, Dr. Bailey felt both systems (the gun and the needle) were just as effective but the gun could give more shots faster.  He said neither hurt very much.
Although approximately 1400 people were vaccinated at the Hyrum clinic, it is no indication of how many Hyrum residents received the vaccination.  Hyrum citizens have gotten shots at other clinic s and also all the people who got shots in Hyrum were from Hyrum, Bailey concluded.

Friday, November 9, 2012

The Uncompagre Ute Indians

I am using for my information the first three chapters of my Dad's thesis: Reluctant Immigrants of Utah: The Uncompahgre Utes.  My father is James W. Wardle and his thesis is available at the library at Utah State University.  These chapters talk about the history of the Utes, from their first beginning to their territory becoming part of the United States.  The traditional territory of the Uncompahgre was on the Utah, Colorado border and centrally located from North to South.  This area was close to the area of the Anasazi, and then the Fremont.  These groups coexisted for a time, and then ceased to exist about the same time, about 1300 A.D.  A lingering question for archeologist is to determine the cause of this extinction.
The first historical mention of the Utes was 1540 A.D. when they came in contact with Coronado's expedition to find the lost gold cities.  They were fist known as the Tabeguaches and later as the Uncompahgre.  Escalante documented them as being in the are of the confluence of the Dolores and Colorado rivers.  They were a desert nomadic people.  The Spaniards improved the lifestyle of the Tabeguache as they were introduced to the horse, and became more a Plains type Indian, hunting buffalo and living in teepees.  It also brought increased opportunities for trade.  They traded for horses, guns, needles and brandy.
No one is sure when they name of this group changed to Uncompahgre, nor the reason for the change.  During the early 1800s this area pertained to Spain, and then Mexico.  Early American explorations visited the area.  Lieutenant Zebulon Pike in 1806 visited the area, but was escorted by the Spanish to Chihuahua where he and his men were permitted to return to the United States.  American interest waned during the War of 1812.  However it picked up, and early explorers often met the same fate as Pike.  Over the years an American presence was allowed in the area with fur trappers and trading posts.  However it wasn't until the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that the relationship between this group of Native Americans and European settlers began to change.  This treaty signed in 1847, concluded the Mexican American War and this area became a part of the United States.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Book Review: The Beehive House

This is a pamphlet with artwork and text by S. Dilworth Young.  It is undated, but mentions the restoration of the Beehive House in 1960.  I came upon it on the book exchange shelf at the Nothland Ward and will be returning it to this shelf. 






This pamphlet is brief, and appears to be intended to accompany one's tour of the house.  I toured the house many years ago, but Miranda took the tour on our last trip to Utah.  There are a couple points of interest.  The first is the wall which was built around the property.  This was used to offer employment to many Saints who had just arrived in the valley.  On the grounds were offices which included the office for governor of territory until 1857 and for the president of the church until 1918.

The Long Hall or parlor was upstairs, and was used for entertaining. Dignitaries were received in this room, and it also served for the receptions of his daughters when they married.  The home also included a family store.  This was not a store in terms of selling goods, but was used for distributing goods to Brigham's different families.