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100 Years Ago: Hotel Utah, Lawsuit, and Hatchetations

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The following was adapted from the Improvement Era magazine of July 1911.

“Hatchetations”

Carry Nation

Carry Nation with her hatchet and Bible

Carry A. Nation, made famous because she began a campaign in Wichita, Kansas, December 17, 1900, against the saloons, by smashing furniture and windows with a hatchet, died in Leavenworth, Kansas, June 9. Carry Moore was born in Kentucky, in 1846, and in early life married a man who became a drunkard.

When he died, she determined to devote her life to the suppression of the liquor traffic and the tobacco habit. With her favorite hatchet she left a trail of ruined bar-rooms in the state of Kansas, wherever she unheralded appeared. She was married to David Nation, in Kansas City, who divorced her ten years ago.

[Official records say her first name was spelt Carrie. However, beginning with her anti-liquor campaign, she adopted the name Carry A. Nation mainly for its value as a slogan. Between 1900 and 1910 she was arrested some 30 times for “hatchetations,” as she came to call them. Nation paid her jail fines from lecture-tour fees and sales of souvenir hatchets.]

University of Utah Lawsuit

The University of Utah lost its suit, begun nearly four years ago, against the Montello Salt Company, in the United States Supreme Court, May 29, for title to large tracts of salt lands, under an act of Congress granting the state of Utah lands for university purposes. The district and state supreme courts had both decided for the University. The salt beds in question are said to be so extensive that had the suit been favorable to the state, the University would have been richly endowed.

Hotel Utah

Beautiful Hotel Utah opened its doors at 8 o’clock Friday morning, June 9. The structure complete marks an expenditure of two million dollars—$1,500,000 for construction, $300,000 in furnishings, and $200,000 for a light, heat and power plant. It is one of the great hotels of the United States, and signals a new era for Salt Lake City and Utah, in their relations to the traveling public.

[The Hotel Utah ceased operations in August 1987. A major remodeling and adaptive reuse project to accommodate both community and church functions was completed in 1993. Church leader Gordon B. Hinckley chose the name Joseph Smith Memorial Building when he observed that there were many monuments to Brigham Young, but none to Joseph Smith.]

Adapted from: “Passing Events”, Improvement Era, Vol. XIV. July, 1911. No. 9.

Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Joseph Smith Memorial Building, formerly the Hotel Utah


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Shepard Creek Trail

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Shepard Creek Trail - Susan, Shauna, and Jill

Shepard Creek Trail - Susan, Shauna, and Jill

Yesterday Susan, Shauna, Jill and I hiked Shepard Creek Trail. Shepard Creek Trail winds out of several residential areas in Somerset and Shepard Heights and up a canyon. To get to the trail, from Main Street go east toward the mountains on 1400 North one block. Look for a dirt road to the north and park along 1400 North. Step over the pedestrian gate.

Shepard Creek Trail stream

Shepard Creek

Walk north up the dirt road. This is part of the old Bamberger Railroad right of way. As you come to a large open area, cross near a stone culvert, past the weather station, to the far side of Shepard Creek. The trail parallels the creek winding through trees and crossing two bridges. The first bridge is a large log with a rope as a handrail. Turn left and follow the trail beside the stream.

Shepard Creek Trail steep in places

The trail was steep in places

When you come to some wooden steps, go straight across and continue paralleling the stream until you reach another set of wooden steps. Turn left and cross the second bridge. Follow the trail again paralleling the stream. You will pass some houses. If you take a wrong turn you could end up in someone’s kitchen. So watch for the trail markers.

Shepard Creek Trail flowers

Flowers along the trail

Keep bearing to the right and eventually you will rise up a short hill to an intersection where there is a bench. The Somerset section of the trail continues on from here.

In 10 or 20 minutes, the trail will come out on Bella Vista Drive. Look up the canyon over your right shoulder to see the break in the chain link fence where the trail continues.

Hike up the dirt road about 200 feet and watch for the trail to cut up the slope to the right. Continue up the trail beyond the chain link fence and hike straight up the dirt road until it “T’s”.

Go left at the “T” and follow this dirt road. After 75 to 100 feet, keep an eye to the right of the road for a faint footpath. Follow the footpath up a ways where it turns to the south. Notice that there is a footpath that travels east up and over a rock outcropping. Another trail goes south from here to Farmington Canyon.

It was a hot day but most of the first part of the trail was shaded. Once out in the open one could feel the sun. Occasionally there was a gentle breeze which felt really good.

We didn’t get to the end of the trail. A hiker on his return trip said it was very steep further up the trail. We weren’t equipped with hiking boots so we eventually turned back after admiring the view.

Shepard Creek Trail bench

There were several benches along the trail

Shepard Creek Trail uphill

Further up the trail

Shepard Creek Trail - Jill

Jill on the trail

Shepard Creek Trail - Shauna

Shauna with a view of the valley behin her

Shepard Creek Trail view of LDS granary

Jill with the Kaysville LDS granary in the distance

Shepard Creek Trail sego lily

Utah's state flower, the sego lily, by the side of the trail

Shepard Creek Trail flowers Shauna

Shauna and flowers

FAA long-range radar site atop Francis Peak

Shepard Creek Trail return trip

Jill, Shauna, and Susan make the return trip

Shepard Creek Trail waterfall

On our return, this little waterfall cooled the air while we rested

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Brigham City Temple Spires

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Brigham City Temple Spires

The west spire is now in place

Today the photographs of the Brigham City temple construction reveal the west spire in place. Last week there was only the spire framework. The statue of the angel Moroni is scheduled to be placed atop the east spire on Tuesday, July 12, 2011, at noon. Installation will take around thirty minutes. The streets surrounding the temple block will be closed to allow spectators to view the proceedings.

Brigham City Temple spires closeup

Brigham City History

Population Changes

Bushnell General Hospital, built in 1942 to treat soldiers wounded in WWII, brought some drastic changes to the quiet community. The 60-building facility constructed on 235 acres brought a major boost to the economy. From the beginning of its construction until its closure in 1946, Bushnell provided new jobs for many local people.

Local farmers sold produce to the hospital, and business on Main Street increased with the inundation of hospital staff, patients and their families. People from various backgrounds came to work or to be treated at Bushnell, then stayed in Brigham City and merged with the descendants of the Mormon settlers.

After Bushnell closed, the facility housed the Intermountain Indian School from 1950 until 1984, with its staff and students adding more cultural diversity to the citizenry
Brigham City’s growth rate increased rapidly with the construction in 1957 of Thiokol Chemical Corporation’s Wasatch Division, the largest manufacturing enterprise in Box Elder County’s history. With its initial workforce of 150 growing to 1,425 by 1959, housing construction in Brigham City boomed. A total of 187 homes were built in 1958, twice the number built the previous year. (From: Brighamcity.utah.gov)

Photo Credit: Jill Willoughby

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Brigham City Temple Roof

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Brigham City Temple Roof

The red roof of the temple

Yesterday a visit to the Brigham City temple construction showed the red roof of the temple. Last week there was work on the west side of the temple and that appears to have continued. There is still the unfinished west spire but it cannot be too long before that is completed. I wonder when the angel Moroni statue will be placed on the east spire?

Brigham City Temple Roof closeup

Brigham City History

Commerce (continued)

By 1910 Brigham City’s population was 4,000, and its industries included the new cement plant north of town, Anderson Knitting factory and the Jensen Brothers Milling and Elevatory (changed to Big J Mill in 1946). Retail businesses sold such merchandise as ladies’ fashions, motor cars, furniture and medicine. Hotels, cafes, saloons, shoe repair shops, and a wagon and machine company were among the local businesses.

In 1911, Lorenzo Smith, grandson of Samuel Smith who helped colonize Brigham City and organize the Co-op, opened a family grocery store on Main Street. Typical of the time, the store was more than a source of groceries. To many it was a social center for gossiping and keeping up with events of the day. Lorenzo’s son, Dee Smith, later took over the business and eventually expanded it to a chain of 110 stores throughout the western states.

In the 20s and 30s, Brigham City remained a small agricultural town specializing in fruit production. At the time it was still predominantely Mormon. Although many local men had seen active duty in World War I, the impact of the war on townspeople was small compared to what they would experience during World War II. (From: Brighamcity.utah.gov)

Brigham City Temple unfinished spire

The unfinished west spire of the temple

Brigham City Temple unfinished spire closeup

Photo Credit: Jill Willoughby
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Precision Smokestack Targeting

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Russian smokestack
Once in awhile I read an amusing quote. There was one recently in an article by The Wall Street Journal reporting on the Pentagon’s first cyber strategy. Part of the plan warns nations of the consequences of attacking the U.S. by hacking computer systems. Hackers, supported by national governments, pose as significant a threat to U.S. nuclear reactors, subways or pipelines as a hostile country’s military.

An unidentified U.S. military official said:

“If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks.”

Previous attacks have originated from Russia and China but often both the perpetrator and impact are unclear.
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Kamdyn Ross Brown

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Today we had a barbeque at Ty and Alex’s home in honor of Kamdyn Ross Brown. There was plenty of good food and lots of family showed up. The highlight of the evening was the releasing of the blue balloons up to Kamdyn in heaven. It appeared that it might rain but as you can see in the video the weather cleared in time for the balloons to rise high in the sky.
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Joint Family Home Evening: 72 Hour Kits

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Water, water filter, and bleach
With three of my five children now married I asked them if once a month they would like to get together for a Joint Family Home Evening (JFHE). Everyone agreed so we all met for the first time this month for the purpose of putting together our 72 hour emergency kits. We decided to gradually build up the kits over a period of months.

Readers of my blog are welcome to add any words of advice as this is the first time most of us have tried to assemble a kit that one can actually carry any decent distance.

Three categories I have ranked in order of importance:

  1. Water
  2. Food
  3. Shelter

Water

At our first JFHE the focus was on water. For the kits we assembled:

  • Nine 20 fluid ounce bottles of water
  • One 2/3 fluid ounce bottle of bleach
  • One water filtration bottle

Details

The nine bottles in the photograph are used 20 fluid ounce Gatorade bottles, previously collected, filled with water. This amounts to a total of 1.41 U.S. gallons, or just shy of a half a gallon a day, or three bottles a day, for drinking.

One bottle of bleach is approximately 390 drops. One needs eight drops of regular Clorox bleach to purify a gallon of water, or double that for cloudy water. Even in a worst case the yield will be 24 gallons of water.

I added a label to the bleach that reads “Bleach. 8 drops / gallon. double for cloudy.” This guards against the priesthood from accidentally bleaching the hair of the sick.

To Disinfect Water: If you need to purify water during an emergency, (and don’t have the means to boil it for 3–5 minutes), you can disinfect your water using bleach:
For clear water—add 8 drops (1/8 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water
For cloudy water—add 16 drops (1/4 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water

Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for about 30 minutes before using it. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesn’t, repeat dosage and allow water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can be made drinkable by pouring it between clean containers several times. (Source: The Clorox Company)

Each family has a water filtration bottle. This can be used in conjunction with the bleach to improve the taste of the treated water. The other members of the family would have an additional bottle of bleach instead of the filtration bottle.

Cost

If supplies are already at hand, for example, tap water and household bleach, I count this as no cost.

The families will now have a month to assemble these items, or something similar. Next time we will address food, or at least the main meals.

Thoughts anyone?
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Brigham City Utah Temple

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Brigham City Utah Temple

The east spire is in place and work continues on the west side of the temple

Yesterday a visit to the Brigham City temple construction site yielded a few photographs. Last week the focus was on the east spire installation. Now work is progressing on the west side of the temple. It will not be long before we see the west spire erected.

Brigham City Utah Temple work on the west side

Brigham City History

Commerce

The fruit growing business in Box Elder County was thriving in the 1890s. It had been initiated in 1855 when Wiliam Wrighton went to Salt Lake City, bought 100 peach stones for $1.00 and planted them in Brigham City. Peach production was so successful that the annual harvest celebration, started in 1904, was named Peach Days.

Many men grew fruit on their own property and sold it to supplement other income. William Knudsen, however, raised and sold fruit as his major source of income. He discovered early on that the Brigham City area was particularly adapted for peaches, berries and small fruits. He established a successful fruit growing and shipping business which sustained his family members for generations to come.

The first sugar beets were planted in 1891, and dairy and creamery operations were successful. Prospecting began in the 1890s, and Brigham City’s first newspaper The Bugler started printing in 1890. In 1892 the city’s water and electricity systems were installed. (From: Brighamcity.utah.gov)

Brigham City Utah Temple construction closeup

A crane moves into position a section of the west wall

Brigham City Utah Temple construction

Part of the wall ready to be attached. The tabernacle can be seen to the right

Brigham City Utah Temple east spire

The east spire, minus the angel Moroni


Photo Credit: Jill Willoughby
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