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VOL.5 NO.5 • JULY 2019
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GET OUT | GET GOING | JUST GO
EVERETT RUESS A QUEST FOR BEAUTY
UTAH PIONEER TREKS
TRAILBLAZERS OF AMERICAN FORK CANYON
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INSIDE
8 WAGONS, HO! Finding a groove along the Mormon Pioneer Trail BY KATHLEEN CURRY & GEOFF GRIFFIN
14 STREET SMARTS Quirky historical icons in and around downtown SLC BY KATHLEEN CURRY & GEOFF GRIFFIN
18 A LONG STRANGE TRIP Hirsute bookseller Ken Sanders ponders Utah’s pioneers BY CHRIS VANOCUR
Utah country lane early 1900
20 ROAM WITH A VIEW Early Spanish pioneers left their imprint on Utah BY REBECCA CHAVEZ-HOUCK
24 PIONEER OF BEAUTY Everett Ruess’ long silence speaks volumes BY JOHN RASMUSON
26 BACKCOUNTRY CHEF The buzz on early beekeeping in the Beehive BY CLAIRE MCARTHUR
28 PIONEERS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE Bolting steep limestone in American Fork Canyon
UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BY MEGAN WALSH
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Mine Your Very Own Trilobite
FAMILY FUN u-digfossils.com 435-864-3638 Delta, Utah
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 5
VOL.5 NO.5 • JULY 2019
CONTRIBUTORS
GET OUT | GET GOING | JUST GO
STAFF
PUBLISHER DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
EDITORIAL
EDITOR PROOFREADER CONTRIBUTORS
PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR GRAPHIC ARTIST
BUSINESS/OFFICE
ASSOCIATE BUSINESS MANAGER OFFICE ADMINISTRATORS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
MARKETING
MARKETING AND EVENTS DIRECTOR MARKETING AND EVENTS ASSISTANT
CIRCULATION
CIRCULATION MANAGER
SALES
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR SALES DIRECTOR, EVENTS DIGITAL OPERATIONS MANAGER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES RETAIL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
John Saltas Pete Saltas
Jerre Wroble Lance Gudmundsen Kathleen Curry, Geoff Griffin, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Claire McArthur, John Rasmuson, Chris Vanocur, Megan Walsh
John Rasmuson spends his days trying to put the right words in the right order. He wrote a column for City Weekly for 12 years that won awards every now and then when he got the words just right.
Chelsea Neider Sean Hair, Sofia Cifuentes
Paula Saltas David Adamson, Samantha Herzog Bryan Mannos
Samantha Smith Anna Kaser Geoff Griffin and Kathleen Curry are the ultimate weekend warriors in pursuit of Utah-based adventures for Vamoose Utah.
Eric Granato
Jennifer Van Grevenhof Kyle Kennedy Anna Papadakis Doug Kruithof, Kathy Mueller Katie Goss, Mieka Sawatzki
Cover image: Mormon Trek Re-enacted, early 1900_Utah State Historical Society Distributed free of charge throughout the Wasatch Front while supplies last. Additional copies of Vamoose Utah are available at the Vamoose offices: 248 S. Main, Salt Lake City, UT 84101, 801-575-7003
Editorial contact: Editor@vamooseutah.com Advertising contact: Sales@vamooseutah.com COPPERFIELD PUBLISHING, INC • COPYRIGHT 2019 • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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@vamooseutah
@vamooseutah
Rebecca Chavez-Houck is a former Utah representative now serving as executive director of Better Boundaries. That still leaves her time to go “glamping” with family and friends and discover new places to visit.
A NEW WORLD
U
tah’s history, like its pioneers, is bold, inspiring, “peculiar” and even dark. Any publication recognizing Utah’s stalwart settlers must also acknowledge a painful consequence of their arrival. The influx of 70,000 Latter-day Saints from 1846 to 1868 as well as the LDS church’s founding of 500 settlements across seven states and in Mexico and Canada contributed in displacing native people from their traditional societies, lands and resources. Of course, it wasn’t all due to the Saints’ westward migration. After Europeans landed in America, the “frontier” became a thin and somewhat blood-soaked line running between white European civilization and a natural unspoiled continent, a place where the U.S. government sponsored more than 1,500 wars and attacks on Native Americans, according to historian Donald Fixico, author of a History.com feature titled “When Native Americans Were Slaughtered in the Name of Civilization.” By the end of the 19th century—due to warfare, disease and trading disruption—Fixico estimates fewer than 238,000 indigenous people remained, down from an estimated 5 million to 15 million living in North America when Columbus arrived in 1492. Spanish explorer Juan Antonio de Rivera may have been among the first Europeans to tread upon Utah soil when he visited in 1765, claiming the territory for Spain and discovering the Colorado River. In 1776, another expedition entered Utah from Mexico led by Franciscan priests looking for a route to California. Rebecca Chavez-Houck writes about the Dominguez-Escalante explorations in her article, “Patrimonio Y Historia,” on p.20.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Cottonwood Panel (the Great Hunt) petroglyph in Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon, once home to Utah’s Fremont and Ute people
These first Utah explorers actually received assistance from native people, including the Utes, from which Utah gets its name (other historic Utah tribes include the Paiute in the south, the Goshute in the west, the Shoshone in the north and the Navajo in the southeast). Native American encounters tended to became more volatile once caravans of wagons appeared on the horizon. The “pioneer” chapter of Utah’s human habitation is one of many that reaches back 12,000 years or more. The post-Ice Age PaleoIndian people left the earliest traces of their life in Utah— back when Utah enjoyed a cooler and wetter climate. They were thought to have lived here 12,000 to 7,500 years ago. The Archaic peoples followed, residing here 7,500 years to 2,500 years ago, known for their Barrier Canyon Style pictographs. From 2,500 years to 800 years ago, the Four Corners region was populated by the Ancestral Puebloans (aka the Anasazi) who lived in cliff dwellings and grand pueblos while the Fremont people, famous for their distinctive petroglyphs (shown above), lived farther north in pit houses and rock shelters. No one knows precisely why these ancient cultures disappeared. Was it climate change? Territorial disputes? One thing is certain: no map is set in stone. Lands are forever fought over and lines redrawn, and pioneers full of hope arrive soon after. Those we write about in this issue had no safety nets. The dangers they faced brought out their better and lesser angels as they explored and settled this land. And here we are today, ever on the brink of a new pioneer explosion. —By Jerre Wroble July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 7
WEEKEND WARRIOR
Historic photo of the wagon train life
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Wagons Ho! Finding your groove along the Mormon Pioneer Trail BY KATHLEEN CURRY AND GEOFF GRIFFIN
S
alt Lake City is dotted with statues, buildings and historical markers that revere the Latter-day Saint pioneers who arrived in Utah in 1847 (see “Street Smarts,” p. 14). There are journals and history books telling their stories. Every July 24, pioneers are celebrated with a parade and festivities. It’s one thing to read about them, but quite another to actually experience trekking through the wilderness like they did. Within a three-hour drive of Salt Lake City, it’s possible to put yourself in their footsteps along the last leg of the Mormon Trail. From 1846 to 1869, more than 70,000 members of the LDS faith traveled along the Mormon Trail. In some spots in southwest Wyoming, you still can see exposed
wagon ruts more than 150 years later. There are overlooks along the way where you can imagine covered wagons skidding down the side of a mountain. It’s still possible to experience what it was like, standing alongside trails where the pioneers would have trudged by in 1847, feeling their desolation knowing there were still weeks of travel before they’d reach Salt Lake Valley. Today, LDS church members dress up in period garb and pull handcarts for multiple days to get a sense of what the journey was like. But you can experience the Mormon Trail as a weekend getaway by driving across the border into Wyoming and following this itinerary:
Thursday
••••
Rock Springs
Salt Lake City
THURSDAY AFTERNOON SLC to Rock Springs, Wyo.
FAE
Head east on Interstate 80 for 2 ½ hours until you arrive in Rock Springs, Wyo. The town sits in the heart of Sweetwater County, boasting more exposed pioneer trails of any place in America. You’ll see wagon-wheel marks along several trails, including the Mormon Trail. As for accommodations, there are more than 2,000 hotel rooms in the Rock Springs area, including many national chains. One option is the Best Western Outlaw Inn (1630 Elk St., Rock Springs, Wyo., 307-362-6623, OutlawInnWyom.com) which first opened in 1966 just before I-80 came through. It’s still family-owned today. Once you get settled, head out to dinner at Coyote Creek Steakhouse and Saloon (404 N. St., Rock Springs, Wyo., 307-382-4100, CoyoteCreekRS.com) For the steakhouse portion of the evening, the prime rib is a can’t-miss. Don’t be afraid to try the shrimp cocktail with housemade sauce. For the saloon, check out Coyote’s bloody mary with housemade mix and pickled asparagus. July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 9
Friday
NPS
••••
Historic photo of wagon trains traversing the West
Green River
FRIDAY MORNING Rock Springs to Green River, Wyo.
While the Outlaw Inn offers a free hot breakfast, you might also consider the hotel’s Open Range on-site restaurant where fresh Idaho trout is on the breakfast menu with eggs and hash browns on the side. While there, grab one of their box lunches to go, since you’ll be out exploring pioneer trails for the day. Take US 191 north out of Rock Springs for 42 miles to arrive at the junction with Wyoming Highway 28. For the rest of the day, head southwest on WYO-28 and look for Mormon Trail markers and interpretive signs beside the roadway. You can pull over as often as your level of interest and time constraints allow. Some may require you to walk 50 to 100 yards to see exposed wagon ruts or other points of interest. Visit HistoricTrailMedals.com/ trailmormon for tour highlights, plus NPS.gov/mopi for detailed maps. In the mid-1800s, Sweetwater County was an intersection of sorts for a variety of westward routes, so visitors can also find remnants from the Oregon, California, Overland, Donner and Cherokee trails. The first notable spot along Highway 28 is Little Sandy Crossing near the junction with US 191, which in 2019, is about a fourhour drive from Salt Lake City. In 1847, the LDS pioneers arrived there on June 28, meaning they were still nearly a month from
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Rock Springs
hearing Brigham Young utter, “This is the place,” on July 24. Little Sandy Crossing is also where Young met Jim Bridger. The story goes that when he asked the mountain man if he knew anything about the Salt Lake Valley, Bridger laughed, saying he’d give $1,000 for the first bushel of corn grown there. After the pioneers crossed the Sandy River, it would take them two days to reach the Green River, where they would face a much bigger challenge. Nowadays, the drive from the Sandy to the Green on Highway 28 takes about 30 minutes. An interpretive station at Green River explains how the pioneers ferried their wagons and livestock across the water. Once you’ve reached the Green River, you’re not far from the Wyoming town of the same name. When WYO 28 dead-ends into Highway 372, turn left and head south. The road will run in and out of Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge (FWS.gov/refuge/ seedskadee) before taking you into the town. You will have already passed by Green River on your way to Rock Springs since it’s 15 miles west of Rock Springs along I-80. This time, stop and enjoy dinner at the Hitching Post Restaurant and Saloon (580 E. Flaming Gorge Way, Green River, 307-875-2246, HitchingPostGR. com). Noted for its large salad bar, its menu runs the gamut from beef stroganoff to chili cheese fries to a Reuben sandwich. The restaurant closes at 10 p.m., but the saloon stays open until 2 a.m.
Saturday SATURDAY MORNING Green River to Fort Bridger & Mountain View
Start the day at Cowboy Donuts (1573 Dewar St., Green River, Wyo., 307-362-3400, CowboyDonuts.com) where their catchphrase is “Dang good donuts.” With hot kolaches, specialty donuts and a full range of coffee, you’ll find a way to get your day going in the right direction. Your next destination is Fort Bridger, and you can choose from two ways to get there. You either can hop on I-80 West and reach your destination in about an hour or take two hours and swing down through Flaming Gorge to enjoy beautiful views while crossing the state line into the Utah town of Manila. Then, you’ll return to I-80 via Wyoming Highway 414. Just before reaching I-80, you’ll want to stop at Fort Bridger State Historic Site (37001 Interstate 80 Business Loop, Fort Bridger, Wyo., 307-7823842, WyoParks.State.Wy.us) Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez opened the fort with a store and blacksmith shop in 1843 after Bridger noticed that many passing wagon trains, “are generally well supplied with money, but by the time they get here they are in need of all kinds of supplies, provisions, smith-work, etc.” The Mormon pioneers were among those groups when they passed by in 1847. Their history continued at Fort Bridger when
••••
they came back and took it over in 1853. The Mormons claimed they bought it from Vasquez while Bridger was out of town, but Bridger claimed the Mormons drove him out because Brigham Young didn’t like him selling liquor to Native Americans. Either way, the Latter-day Saints ended up using the fort from 1853-57 as a place for incoming pioneers to stop and rest for the final part of their journey. In 1857, the U.S. Army was on its way to Utah to let Young know who was in charge. The Mormons burned the fort to the ground rather than allowing the Army to take shelter or grab provisions for their long march. In all, Fort Bridger saw five different eras of occupation. Today, all five can be experienced on a 37-acre property containing 27 historic buildings and four replica structures. After your visit, the town of Mountain View is adjacent to Fort Bridger. You can spend the night there at Country Cabins Inn (21 Seventh St., Mountain View, Wyo., 307-782-7888, CountryCabinsInn.com) where you can enjoy your own private cabin that includes a shower and jetted-tub along with a kitchenette. On-site, you’ll find Zheng Zhong Chinese Restaurant, which serves Chinese and Thai dishes. Their online reviews from patrons generally go something like, “I was stunned to find a really good Chinese/Thai restaurant in the middle of Wyoming.”
PHOTO 54970620 © SALTCITYPHOTOGRAPHY - DREAMSTIME.COM
Today, the LDS Church offers handcart trek re-enactments to wards, stakes, families and other approved groups
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Sunday
CHELSEA NEIDER
••••
Handcart Pioneer Monument at Temple Square
SUNDAY MORNING Mountain View, Wyo., to SLC
Salt Lake City
Before leaving Mountain View, head over to the Crazy Ate Café and Steakhouse (971 N. Highway 414, Mountain View, Wyo., 307-782-7455, CrazyAteCafe.com) where their claim to fame is a giant homemade cinnamon roll weighing in at 3 pounds. We’re not saying that you have to order it, but you may not ever get another chance at a roll that huge. After breakfast, get back on I-80 and head west. You’ll hit the Wyoming/Utah state line in about 45 minutes. Once in Utah, take Exit 178 for Echo Canyon Road (you can only make this exit when heading west). Echo Canyon Road was once the Lincoln Highway and generally runs parallel to I-80. While heading southwest on Echo Canyon Road, you’ll have access to several pioneer-related sites. About nine miles along Echo Canyon Road, you can see Steamboat Rocks—also known as Noah’s Ark. Brigham Young and company camped there in 1847, and it became a major landmark for Mormon emigrants who came through in later years, letting them know they weren’t too far from the finish line. About 12 miles from the exit, you’ll come to the tiny town of Echo. Just off the road, you’ll spot an area with a number of interpretive exhibits, plus you’ll find several historical buildings. The town of Echo is where Echo Canyon Road turns into Echo Road and alters its orientation from southwest to northwest, heading toward the town of Henefer. Echo Road runs parallel to Interstate 84. Once in Henefer, you’ll cross I-84 to enter Utah
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BOB WICK - BLM
Mountain View
State Route 65. Once on SR-65, continue about 5 miles to the Big Mountain Rest Area—the place where the pioneers caught their first glimpse of Salt Lake Valley. At this stage, they needed to get down the mountain but didn’t have switchbacks like we do today. Their solution was to lock the wheels on their wagons with chains and slowly skid the wagons down the mountainside. As you get back in your car and head down the mountain, you’ll be able to see other spots of the old trail scar as the modern road switches back and forth. Continuing down SR-65, you’ll come to Little Dell Reservoir. At this point, you could stay on the road a few more miles and hook back up with I-80, but we recommend turning right onto Emigration Canyon Road, which brings you down the same canyon the Mormon pioneers traveled in 1847. This is also where you’ll find your final stop before heading home, Ruth’s Diner (4160 Emigration Canyon Road, Salt Lake City, 801-582-5807, RuthsDiner.com). OK, a place with a make-your-own bloody mary bar that’s open on Sundays doesn’t necessarily have much to do with Mormon pioneer history. However, Ruth Evans, the founder, was born in the 19th century, as were many of the pioneers, and is there anything that’s more of a Salt Lake classic than sitting on the patio at Ruth’s on a sunny day and eating mile-high biscuits? Slap on plenty of butter and jam and give thanks that you live in 2019 while appreciating the skill, courage and ingenuity of those who came before.
I’m Here to find you the perfect place to stash your gear!
Katie O’Neil, REALTOR® katie@urbanutah.com 781.799.0473 @bohemianutah bohemianutah.com
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 13
The Handcart Pioneer Monument at Temple Square
STREET SMARTS
Quirky historical icons in and around downtown SLC
BY KATHLEEN CURRY AND GEOFF GRIFFIN
D
CHELSEA NEIDER
owntown Salt Lake City is filled with, even built around, reminders of the Latter-day Saint pioneers who first arrived in the valley on July 24, 1847: The Salt Lake Temple. The Tabernacle. The Lion House. The Beehive House. The statue of Brigham Young at the intersection of Main and South Temple. While these obvious reminders draw millions of visitors per year, the area’s home to several less visible reminders of pioneer history. Here’s a walking (or jogging, or biking, or riding a electric scooter) tour for locals that may take their knowledge beyond the state-mandated 4th and 7th grade Utah history classes. There’s a bonus at the end when you grab a treat at a thoroughly modern restaurant.
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Southeast corner of Temple Square, just outside the wall 10 South Temple, SLC, TempleSquare.com The number on whatever building you inhabit was determined on Aug. 3, 1847, just days after Brigham Young announced, “This is the place.” He directed Orson Pratt to set a marker at what is now the southeast corner of Temple Square. Today, a small pillar and plaque mark the spot. If you want to get technical, the exact location is 40 degrees 46 minutes 04 seconds north latitude, and 111 degrees 54 minutes 00 seconds west longitude, while sitting at 4,327.27 feet above sea level. As you’ve no doubt explained to visitors and newcomers, every address on the grid system in the Salt Lake Valley begins at this point. Great Salt Lake Base and Meridian, 2019
CHELSEA NEIDER
Great Salt Lake Base and Meridian, 1947
UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Great Salt Lake Base and Meridian
Nauvoo Bell at Temple Square
The Nauvoo Bell
The Pioneer Log Cabin is renovated and located west of Temple Square
Pioneer Log Cabin
Between the Family History Library and Church History Museum on the west side of West Temple, across the street from Temple Square. 45 W. South Temple, SLC, 801-319-2450, MormonHistoricSites.org/deuel-log-home When the pioneers arrived in the summer of 1847, they didn’t have long to get ready for their first snowy Utah winter. Their ingenuity, organization and work ethic are all on display in the 15-by-20-foot log home that was the residence of Osmyn, Mary and Amos Deuel from the fall of 1847 through the spring of 1848. It’s even set up so you can take a peek inside.
CHELSEA NEIDER
Salt Lake City’s first house built in 1847 was originally located in what is now Pioneer Park
UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The historic Nauvoo Bell was carried from Illinois to Utah by early pioneers
CHELSEA NEIDER
UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
West gate of Temple Square, behind Assembly Hall 10 South Temple, SLC, TempleSquare.com Even if you have walked around Temple Square numerous times, you may not be aware of this monument since it’s tucked in an out-of-the-way spot. Cast in Great Britain, the bell originally hung in the Mormon temple in Nauvoo, Ill. The pioneers rescued it after being driven out of town. They hauled it cross-country and rang it while on the trail to let everybody know when it was time to get up and continue the trek. It strikes a perfect pitch C note. In 2019, Utahns may recognize it as the sound used to mark the top of every hour on KSL Radio.
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Commercial Alley (later changed to Regent Street) in 1906 before it was paved
Regent Street
49 East between 100 and 200 South, SLC,DowntownRising.com/go/regent-street As a last stop, you can skip back and forth between the 19th and 21st centuries in the area behind the Eccles Theater that includes Regent Street, the Regent Walk alleyway, and McCarthey Plaza. Known as Block 70 in the initial layout of the city, it has been recently redeveloped from what used to be the loading docks for the local daily newspapers. The formerly off-thebeaten-path thoroughfare is now a primary connector between Gallivan Center to the south and City Creek Center to the north—now in the heart of downtown’s main entertainment district. 16 | Vamoose Utah • July 2019
UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Young Family Memorial Cemetery in the 1950s
Today’s view: condos overlooking the cemetery
Today’s vibrant, redeveloped Regent Street
Look down, and you’ll find plaques that tell what the street was like through the years, the observations of Mark Twain after spending two days here in 1861 and a quote from Brigham Young, listed as, “An original settler of Block 70,” stating, “We will have to go to work and get the gold out of the mountains to lay down, if we ever walk in streets paved with gold.” Also, in the late 1800s, the street was known for its “ladies of the night,” who plied their trade from Regent Street addresses. Regent Street is now home to a cluster of eateries, including Fireside on Regent (126 S. Regent St., SLC, 801-359-4011, FiresideOnRegent.com), which serves up wood-fired pizzas while Pretty Bird
RYAN REEDER AT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WIKIPEDIA
140 E. First Ave., SLC, 801-240-2534 Located behind the aptly named Brigham Apartments, this small park is a peaceful oasis amid the downtown bustle that doesn’t draw crowds. It’s the perfect place to take a quiet break. Besides the grave of Brigham Young, it’s the final resting place of Eliza R. Snow and members of the Young family. There is also a monument to the 6,000 LDS pioneers who died during the trek West. Check out their Facebook page for photos and details about the graves.
PASTELITODEPAPA
PUBLISHED BY UTAH STATE HISTORY; DIGITIZED BY BACKSTAGE LIBRARY WORKS; HOSTED BY J. WILLARD MARRIOTT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Young Family Memorial Cemetery
Chicken (146 S. Regent St., SLC, PrettyBirdChicken.com) always seems to have a line of customers out the door hungry to try hot (spicy) chicken along with coleslaw and pickles. Maize Homestyle Tacos (135 S. Regent St., SLC, 801-471-5612, Facebook.com/MaizeFoodTruck) is the latest entry on Regent, as the popular food truck takes up a brick-and-mortar location. Honest Eatery (135 S. Regent St., Suite B, SLC, 801-532-4754, Facebook.com/eatathonest) has authentic Brazilian Acai bowls and a variety of gourmet toasts. Wherever you dine, save room to hit Last Course Dessert Studio (115 S. Regent St., SLC, 801-410-4708, LastCourse.com) and try smoked maple bacon ice cream or Foster’s banana churros.
R E N D E Z VO SATU THE RDAY GATEW AY 2PM-8P M
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Hirsute historian and bookseller Ken Sanders ponders Utah pioneers BY CHRIS VANOCUR
K
en Sanders is a trip. In one quick conversation, he zips from poetry to environmentalism to a Maori version of the Book of Mormon. And then there’s his flowing white beard. It’s long enough that he could easily put on a hat and some shades, and jam with ZZ Top. But more importantly—at least for the purposes of this article—Ken Sanders is someone who can also take you on a trip. One deep into the heart of Utah’s pioneer past. Sanders is the longtime owner of an independent bookstore in downtown Salt Lake. He estimates he’s got some 100,000 books squirreled away, either at his bookshop or in storage. About a quarter of them, he says, deal with Utah pioneers and Mormons. When I ask what fascinates him about Utah’s pioneer history, Sanders cites his family’s LDS background. While it’s anyone’s guess where Sanders’ spirituality lies these days, his clan does have some Mormon street cred. This includes a wonderfully named great-great-grandfather, Sondra Sanders. “The history of the Mormon people is just absolutely fascinating,” Sanders (Ken not Sondra) says, “regardless if you’re LDS or not.” Walking through his (very) cluttered bookstore, visitors can easily find a well-known title such as Fawn McKay Brodie’s No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. But there are also long-forgotten editions of Utah minutiae such as A History of Schools in Iron County, 1851-1970 by Pratt M. Bethers or the Sanpete County Commission’s The Other 49ers: A topical history of Sanpete County, Utah, 1849-1983. To the untrained eye, these books might not seem to have
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COURTSY OF CITY WEEKLY
A LONG STRANGE TRIP
Ken Sanders
a lot in common. There is, however, a crucial link. As Sanders explains it, “You cannot escape the history of the West without telling the story of the LDS church.” Given Sanders’ fascination with Utah’s past, it begs the question: Who is his favorite pioneer? While other Utah historians or experts might pick a prominent leader from the 1800s, Sanders’ choice is a bit unexpected. It’s an inventor and innovator from the past century. His name? Thomas Henry Moray. Now, I’ve been in Utah long enough to speak “Mormon,” but I’m by no means fluent. In other words, I’m familiar with many of Utah’s key pioneers but not those in the footnotes. Thank goodness, though, for Google. A quick search identifies Moray as, “one of the most talented electronic circuit designers in the emerging field of radio.” Who knew? Well, Ken Sanders knew. Sanders considers Moray to be Utah’s version of Nikola Tesla. (Tesla, for the non-engineers among us, was a groundbreaking pioneer
won’t be easy. But as gloomy as this news may be, Sanders doesn’t seem overly distraught. Perhaps, it’s the sanguine acceptance of a historian, someone who is all too familiar with the changes that time brings. Meanwhile, back at his beard, my all-toobrief visit with Ken Sanders comes to a close. I am struck, however, by a whimsical notion. Given his prominent, decidedly old-school facial hair, I ask Sanders if people ever tell him he’s looks like a 19th century Utah pioneer? Mischievously, he answers in the positive, “On a good day, it’s Brigham Young. On a bad day, it’s Porter Rockwell.” This is classic Ken Sanders. In one farewell aside, he references both the revered second president of the LDS church and a shadowy bodyguard to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, known as the “Avenging Angel.” But this is what you get with Sanders. His bookstore has a distinct yin-yang vibe. It’s a decidedly secular place, yet one with strong religious ties. It’s a shrine of sorts, a place where much can be gleaned about the rich and varied history of Utah’s forefathers. Visitors may ultimately leave, as I did, marveling at what a long strange trip it’s been. Ken Sanders Rare Books 268 S. 200 East, SLC, 801-521-3819 KenSandersBooks.com
COURTSY OF CITY WEEKLY
in the field of electrical power). Sanders takes much delight in informing me that Moray conducted his experiments in Emigration Canyon and the Salt Flats. And, for those interested in knowing more about this energy pioneer, Sanders suggests reading his magnus opus, The Sea of Energy in Which the Earth Floats, first published in 1930 and now in its revised 5th edition with a history and biography written by Moray’s son, John E. Moray. Did I mention talking to Ken Sanders is kind of a trip? Unfortunately, a trip may soon be in store for Sanders and his bookshop. He says future developments on his block could force him to seek out a new location. As he succinctly and darkly puts it, “We’re clearly doomed.” Sanders adds that finding 5,000 square feet of affordable space either downtown or in Sugar House
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 19
PATRIMONIO Y HISTORIA Following the trails of Spanish explorers recalls an earlier pioneer heritage
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es Dominguez and Escalante scouted in Utah, and we recently traveled through regions of southwestern Colorado that were also mapped by the expedition. The area is easily accessible within a day’s drive from Salt Lake (we consider a day’s drive to be six hours), so it’s well worth going beyond our state borders to see these beautiful places. We headed south from Salt Lake City and took U.S. Route 6 to Interstate 70 past Green River, then on to U.S. Route 191 to Moab and, then, Monticello. In Monticello, we headed southeast on U.S. Route 491, turning off on Colorado State Highway 184 and traveling toward McPhee Reservoir—just west of Dolores, Colo. We stayed at The Views RV Park (24990 Highway 184, Dolores, Colo., 970749-6489, TheViewsRVPark.com) across from McPhee. Over the past three years, owners Matt and Wendy Eytchison have renovated the former trailer park, which is now a well-appointed RV resort. The newer amenities feature a pavilion with barbeque grills for guests’ use as well as paddleboards that can be taken to the nearby reservoir. If you don’t have your own house on wheels like we do, you can book one of their “glamping” tents. The next day, as we headed east on Colorado Highway 184, we stopped at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Visitor Center and Museum (27501 Highway 184, Dolores, Colo., 970-882-5600, BLM.gov). This interpretive center gives visitors a comprehensive understanding of the area’s archeological
Dominguez-Escalante Expedition trail marker
PANORAMIO PHOTOPHAT
W
hen Utahns think about pioneer history, they usually imagine religious refugees arriving in wagons or pushing handcarts into what was then Mexican territory in the late 1840s. As a child, however, the history that intrigued me was that of the early Southwestern Spanish explorers. During their 1776 expedition, Franciscan priests Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante traveled through what is today New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona in search of an overland route from Santa Fe to the Roman Catholic mission in Monterey, Calif. While they didn’t find a route, the maps drawn by their cartographer, Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, would become invaluable to future pioneers. The Spanish explorers traversed nearly half of our state, helped in large part by the Timpanogos (Ute) tribe. The names they gave to Utah lands during their exploration of the American West reflected the culture of my own maiden name of Chavez and the primary language of my parents. I love seeing the mural of Dominguez and Escalante in the Utah Capitol rotunda right next to those of Mormon pioneers and fur trappers. As a young schoolgirl, it gave me a sense of cultural belonging, something that often eluded me growing up as a non-Mormon Mexican-American in Utah. These explorers provided me with a sense of patrimonio y historia—heritage and history. My husband, Martin, and I have already taken our RV to many of the plac-
BY REBECCA CHAVEZ-HOUCK
The Dutch Charlie area has two campgrounds: Elk Ridge, with canopies over its picnic tables, and the Dakota Terraces campground. Both have electric hookups, washers and dryers, showers, vending machines and nice playgrounds. En route to Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, we diverted from U.S.
A bronze monument honoring Padres Dominguez and Escalante, located in Spanish Fork, was created by Avard T. Fairbanks
EUGENE F BANKS
history that you’ll appreciate when you visit nearby ruins and archeological sites. The nearby San Juan Mountain Range is absolutely breathtaking, and the sleet that fell on us as we walked the charming streets of Telluride (65 miles north of Dolores off Colorado State Highway 145) only freshened the atmosphere for our next stop in Ouray (reached by taking Highway 145 north to Placerville, then heading east on State Highway 62 to Ridgway, then south on U.S. Route 550). Let me say this: I. Love. Ouray. There’s a reason they call it the Switzerland of America. It’s breathtaking. We stayed at the clean and relatively new Ouray RV Park and Cabins (1700 N. Main St., Ouray, Colo., 970-3254523, OurayRVPark.com) located close to the Ouray Hot Springs Park. This campground is what we call “parking lot” style RV camping, with few trees and no privacy barriers between campsites. But, with full hookups and laundry facilities, it worked well for one night. Another option is Ridgway State Park (28555 Highway 550, Ridgway, Colo., 1-800244-5613, CPWShop.com), about 10 miles north of Ouray. Activities there include boating on Ridgway Reservoir and hiking an extensive trail system in all three areas of the park, including Dallas Creek, Dutch Charlie and Pa-co-chu-puk.
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 21
TERRY FOOTE
Gunnison River running through the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park
Route 550 (via U.S. Route 50, then Colorado State Highway 347) to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (South Rim Visitor Center is 7 miles north on CO-347 from the intersection with U.S. Highway 50, 970-641-2337, NPS.gov/blca). This craggy, seemingly bottomless black rock canyon was cut by the Gunnison River and is distinct from the red rock parks that dominate the region. It’s a “must-do” if you are traveling in this area. The South Rim campground has three loops, with loop B being the one we’d use because it has electrical hookups. The efforts of the Dominguez-Escalante expedition were primarily focused on finding a trade route across the unexplored continental interior from Santa Fe, N.M., to the Californian territorial missions. The routes set the stage for the Old Spanish Trail trade routes used during the 1800s by traders of all goods and nationalities. To learn more, visit the Old Fort Uncompahgre Interpretive Center (440 N. Palmer St., Delta, Colo., 970-874-8349, FortUncompahgre.org). Maintained by the Old Spanish Trail Association, the fort is a replica of the original and worth a visit, especially if you’re traveling with kids. To see a real red-rock gem, visit the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area (970-244-3000, BLM.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/colorado/dominguez-escalante-nca). We drove to the Potholes Recreation Site (from Delta, Colo., travel north on U.S. Route 50 and take the turnoff 22 | Vamoose Utah • July 2019
to Escalante Canyon Road, which then becomes Escalante Creek Road), located 12 miles up Escalante Canyon. With pit toilets and no utilities, the campground is beautiful, primitive and remote. Here, you’ll find climbing walls and, for serious kayakers, whitewater options on Escalante Creek and Gunnison River. Getting here, expect a few hairpin turns on a maintained gravel road; best not to take anything larger than a Class C RV. The road threads through private ranchland, so watch for roaming cattle. With only five campsites, you’ll likely be searching for a place to boondock. We recommend camping in nearby Grand Junction or Delta and then exploring this NCA in a separate passenger vehicle if you’ve towed one. In Grand Junction area, just north of Colorado National Monument (another great place to visit), consider camping in the Fruita section of James M. Robb Colorado River State Park (1/2 mile south of Exit 19 off Interstate 70, Fruita, Colo., 1-800-678-2267, CPW. State.Co.us) or Highline Lake State Park (1800 11.8 Road, Loma, Exit 15 off Interstate 70, 800-678-2267, CPWShop.com). FYI, Colorado Parks and Wildlife now requires advance campground reservations either by phone or at CPWShop.com/campinghome.page It almost defies belief to imagine how the Dominguez-Escalante expedition was able to map these gorgeous areas, but I’m sure glad they did. See you at the campground!
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 23
PIONEER OF BEAUTY The disappearance of Everett Ruess—Utah’s nomadic wanderer silent since 1934—tugs on our collective soul
A thoughtful Everett Ruess as a teenager
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ike a Rorschach blot in shades of red ink, the Southern Utah landscape is subject to interpretation. Not everyone views it in the same way, but everyone sees opportunity there. Oilmen focus on its potential for profit. Landscape artist Maynard Dixon was drawn to its uncommon visuality. For Native Americans, the red rock represents a sacred ancestral home. Slick-rock trails draw mountain bikers and four-wheelers. Paleontologists imagine Jurassic reptiles. Edward Abbey described a “spiritual promise” so ineffable that perhaps only a few grokked it. “Ask Everett Ruess,” Abbey suggested in Desert Solitaire. Unfortunately, Ruess didn’t live long enough to share whatever spiritual insight he had gained. He was just 20 years old when he disappeared. In 1934, he rode out of Escalante on a burro en route to Hole-in-the-Rock and was never heard from again. One of the books about him—Amazon offers 10—is A Vagabond of Beauty. The title is apt. Ruess devoted the better part of two years to vagabondage in the Southern Utah and Northern Arizona wilderness. His purpose, wrote Wallace Stegner a few years later,
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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT, J. WILLARD MARRIOTT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
BY JOHN RASMUSON
was the pursuit of beauty. Some might object to Stegner’s phrase, “pursuit of beauty,” as being affected. But he was not romanticizing Ruess as a questing, Byronic figure. Rather, he was paraphrasing Ruess’s own words. In letters to his family, Ruess wrote explicitly and exuberantly about beauty: “I have seen almost more beauty than I can bear,” he wrote. “The country is fiercely, overpoweringly beautiful.” That fiercely beautiful country encompassed Canyon de Chelley, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Navajo Mountain and Zion National Park—and all points in between. Ruess was a traveler, not a tourist. He was exploring Monument Valley on foot years before John Ford made cowboy movies there, two decades before Abbey drove the unpaved roads of Arches National Monument as a government employee. As Ruess traversed the sere, red-rock landscape, he transcribed his experience into words, watercolor sketches and woodblock prints. Once accommodated to Stegner’s “pursuit of beauty,” you have to make a judgment about Ruess’s credibility. Was he an esthete, wise beyond his years? Or a poser, juiced-up by adolescence?
French filmmaker Emmanuel Tellier. La Disparition d’Everett Ruess will be screened in Utah this summer, he will tell you. What makes Ruess, a fresh-faced kid barely out of high school, such a compelling figure? Probably many reasons. Like an epistolary novel, the Ruess story spools out in letters and poems, embellished with sketches, photos and woodblock prints. It is the first-person narrative of a youthful adventurer, a self-styled artist, who walks the pristine wilderness with two burros, selling watercolor sketches along the way to buy food. By his own account, he lives in “dreamy intoxication from the serene beauty and perfect solitude.” Ruess prefers the solitude of the desert to the cacophony of the city. “As to when I shall visit civilization, it will not be soon, I think,” he wrote to his brother in California from Escalante in November 1934. “I have not tired of the wilderness; rather, I
enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time.” It may be that Ruess was reimagining his own life as a work of art—or art at work—but had not foreseen how it might finish. Perhaps he ventured beyond the point of no return on a haunted landscape. In 1776, Spanish explorers called the sheer-walled canyon country along the Colorado River Salsipuedes—meaning “get out if you can.” Either way, you can speculate over a campfire or write your own ending to the Ruess story as if you were back in sophomore English. Was he murdered? Drowned? Killed in a fall? Bitten by a rattlesnake? Stegner gets an A-plus for his concluding paragraph: “Everett Ruess is immortal, as all romantic and adventurous dreams are immortal, He is, and will be for a long time, Artist in Residence in the San Juan country.”
Everett Ruess on the trail, with his dog, Curly
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT, J. WILLARD MARRIOTT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
The answer is “yes” to both. His sincerity is never in doubt, but some of what he wrote is lyrical; some gives pause. The problematical passages include this one: “But he who has looked long on naked beauty may never return to the world, and though he should try, he will find its occupation empty and vain. … Alone and lost, he must die on the alter of beauty.” Ruess’ death was more likely an accident than a ritual sacrifice. His headlong pursuit of beauty may have led to a dark side, which Odysseus encountered on his way home from Troy. Hearing the seductively beautiful song of the Sirens, Odysseus evaded death because he was literally restrained. Ruess may have died because he was as incautious as Timothy “Grizzly Man” Treadwell, who was killed by a bear in 2003 after living among the grizzlies in Alaska’s Katmai National Park for 13 summers. Ruess was known to be reckless. “I have been flirting pretty heavily with death, the old clown,” he admitted in a letter. “In my wanderings this year I have taken more chances and had more wild adventures than ever before.” His last adventure played out in Davis Gulch, 50 miles south of Escalante, where search parties found his two burros in a makeshift corral, but no trace of him or his gear. Not even footprints. Unresolved disappearances occupy a special place in the public consciousness. There is abiding interest in the fate of aviatrix Amelia Earhart, airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper, writer Ambrose Bierce and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Utah has its own mysteries—the Rhoades Mine, the Ancestral Puebloans, the men who left John Wesley Powell on the Colorado River in 1869 never to be seen again. Montezuma’s treasure? Who’s to say it isn’t cached in a cave near Bluff? What became of the Ancestral Puebloans has scientific import. The Ruess disappearance has none. Nevertheless, he has a place of prominence in Utah legends. Walk into Ken Sanders’ bookstore, and you’ll find three books about Ruess next to the cash register. Chat up Sanders, a friend of Abbey, and he will tell you about a new Ruess documentary by
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 25
Due to the costs of sugar, pioneers had to satisfy their sweet tooth with molasses, fruit and honey
New World Pollinators
BEVAN WEED
BACKCOUNTRY
The buzz on beekeeping and cooking with honey BY CLAIRE MCARTHUR
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hen Bevan Weed moved into his home in Riverton, he planted an apple tree in the backyard, but for six frustrating years, he got no fruit. After doing some research, the reason became clear: There were no bees pollinating his tree. “So, I decided to get bees,” recalls Weed. “I started out with one hive, and it was a complete disaster. They all died.” But that was 13 years ago, and today Weed has nearly 200 hives located on his brother Matt’s farm in Logan and on plots in Riverton, Draper and South Jordan where his bees help pollinate farmers’ crops. In a peak year when there’s ample rain and flowers to pollinate, Weed Family Honey produces roughly 5,000 pounds of the sweet nectar, which they sell online, at farmers’ markets and in select stores. “Early on in the season, bees get after dandelions, for example, but then a lot of other wildflowers as they begin to bloom,” explains Weed. “You could have mint or sage. A lot of people put bees on clover and alfalfa because those are good nectar sources.” During the winter months, Weed sends his bees out to California to pollinate almond trees, which is a source of income for the beekeeper, as well as a boost to the hives’ health thanks to the temperate climate. Nicknamed the Beehive State, Utah has a storied love affair with the noble honeybee, starting with the original name that Brigham Young’s intended for Utah: Deseret, which, in the Book of Mormon, meant “honeybee.” Even though honeybees seem like they came with the territory, they were actually brought to Utah with Mormon pioneers in the mid-1800s. That they’re not a native species did not stop the Legislature from naming them the Utah State Insect in 1983. Let’s face it: Pioneers needed sweeteners and cane sugar,
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which had to be shipped in by rail. It was expensive and hard to come by. Despite efforts by Brigham Young and partners to build a factory to refine sugar from sugar beets, the venture failed. That meant the pioneers had to assuage their sweet tooth with molasses, fruit and honey. Thus, it became second nature for Utahns to keep a few hives of bees to trade honey with their neighbors. The connection Weed’s work has to Utah’s pioneer heritage is not lost on the beekeeper. “I think that the early settlers latched onto this idea of being industrious. Every bee inside a hive has a specific purpose. It’s amazing they all come together and do such a great job of thriving,” says Weed. “Plus, they produce this food that is delicious and we can eat.” In the Weed household, honey finds its way into all sorts of dishes. “We use it a lot in baking when we make cookies or bread as a substitute for sugar,” says Weed. “We also use a lot as an add-on to vegetables to give it a honey glaze.” When looking for new ways to incorporate honey into his meals, Weed turns to the National Honey Board, which develops and shares recipes like honey-lacquered bacon burrito, coconut porridge with curry honey, and quinoa-honey granola. But the NHB side dish that Weed has on repeat is the honey citrus-glazed carrots, flavored with a healthy dose of honey, chicken broth, orange juice and zest. If these recipes have you considering setting up your own backyard colony for a honey harvest, take pause: It’s not as easy as you might think. “Beekeeping has a steep learning curve. There are so many things you can do wrong,” says Weed. Weed recommends doing ample research, starting small with two hives and connecting with seasoned beekeepers, such as the members at Utah Beekeepers’ Association or Wasatch Beekeepers Association.
HONEY CITRUS GLAZED CARROTS Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine • 4 cups carrots, sliced • ¼ cup honey • ½ cup chicken broth • ½ cup orange juice • ½ teaspoon orange zest, minced • 1 teaspoon salt • ¼ teaspoon pepper
Directions
Honey-citrus glazed carrots
PHOTO 23702806 © FOOD-MICRO - DREAMSTIME.COM
• In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add carrots and sauté for several minutes. • Add honey, broth, orange juice and orange zest. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until carrots are cooked and liquid is thick. Season with salt and pepper. —From the National Honey Board
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 27
PIONEERS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
Jeff Pedersen
JUDICBELL
JOHN EVANS
Bolting steep limestone in American Fork Canyon
CHRISTINE BAILEY SPEED
Boone Speed
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BY MEGAN WALSH
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riving through American Fork canyon is nothing short of impressive. As Cattle Creek winds alongside Utah State Highway 92, the limestone cliffs claw their way to the canyon’s rim, where, on a sunny day, visitors can snag a glimpse of the proud Timpanogos summit above the southern canyon walls. Utahns have traveled along the Alpine Scenic Loop for decades to reach Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Tibble Fork Reservoir or Timpanogos herself. But it wasn’t until the late ’80s that the climbers who frequented the canyon decided to bolt the hardest, steepest limestone routes in America. Their ingenuity and desire/desperation to establish climbing routes continue to draw professionals and enthusiasts from around the globe. To establish a climbing route requires strength, patience and ingenuity. Route setters haul heavy equipment like power drills and steel bolts up the rock, drilling incremental holes along the way. They then place a bolt and an anchor into the hole which will become the sport climbers main point of protection. For these three experienced climbers, bolting the steep porous “chossy” limestone of American Fork Canyon opened up new challenging routes. From 1988-91, Boone Speed, Bill Boyle and Jeff Pedersen developed more than 400 routes in American Fork Canyon. This set off a chain reaction for areas like Rifle, Red River Gorge and crags in the Bay Area. The amount each of these men gave of
their time, money and energy to develop an area that to this day still sees thousands of climbers is a testament to their vision and dedication. As Boone Speed and I sip coffee at the Rose Establishment, he relives his American Fork days. Boone attributes much of American Fork’s success to the inclusive vibe found in the community. At 20 years old, he was the youngest of the trio and was instrumental in bringing other upand-coming climbers to the area. And when a photo of Speed climbing Freying in Hell Cave debuted on the cover of Climbing magazine in 1991, that put American Fork, and Speed, immediately on the map. For Speed, bolting American Fork wasn’t extraordinary, but necessary. Route prospects were narrow in the 1980s as hard climbing required the ability to navigate harrowing crimps that hardly qualified as holds. Speed attributes his endurance for suffering to the music and mood of his generation, “you know, a bit punk, a bit angry,” he says. “We were channeling a lot of that punk-rock energy, and it felt right.” By working behind the scenes, Speed established and navigated routes at a grade that hadn’t been available in Utah. Training on such technical and powerful routes led him to become the first American to cleanly complete a 5.14b in Logan Canyon called Super Tweak. And seven years later, Speed became part of an elite group of worldwide climbers to send the 5.14c grade after completing Ice Cream, a route he bolted years prior in
Megan Walsh covered this story for Climbing in November 2018.
They were determined without help from modern technology to make the deteriorating walls climbable
COBY WALSH
the Hell Cave of American Fork—once again bringing notoriety to the Utah climbing scene. Jeff Pedersen shared the same desire for hard routes as Speed. We sat in his office in Holladay as he reminisced about climbing heinous, contrived lines created only by refraining from any and all descent holds. His desperation to climb new, hard lines drove him, but routes that combined technical prowess with power didn’t exist. Pedersen’s roots in the Greater Salt Lake climbing community run deep. After bolting American Fork Canyon with Speed and Boyle, he opened The Quarry Climbing Gym in Provo and then moved on to owning and building bigger gyms like Momentum Indoor Climbing (now with locations in Texas and Washington). For Pedersen, building new climbing gyms is a lot like developing crags–it takes patience and a true love of the sport to see such a massive project come to fruition. And that’s exactly what American Fork was–a massive project. In fact, you would hardly recognize the cliffs that Bill, Boone, and Jeff walked up to in the early ’90s—heinous and crumbling. But they were determined without help from modern technology to make the deteriorating walls climbable. The lack of instructions led to true genius as Pedersen and the crew jimmy-rigged runners, draws, and 2x4s to get the job done. “There were all these little feats of engineering and rigging and physics and mechanics,” Pedersen says. At one point, he had a long, circular runner around his forehead that also attached to a rope above him so he could place a bolt down and sideways from his position. “We were just doing fun, funny things,” he says. But according to Pedersen and Speed, American Fork wouldn’t even be a quarter of what it became without Bill Boyle. Pedersen tells me there’s never been anyone like Bill, and Speed agrees. “[Bill] would just hike up these talus slopes by himself at lunch hour,” Speed tells me, “He really had a vision of what was possible. I just sort of helped realize it.” Boyle learned the basics of bolting less than 10 years into climbing from Chris Barnes and Jeff Rhodes in City of Rocks. Just two years later, he took his skills to American Fork where he bolted the majority of easy-to-moderate routes. Boyle was efficient. In a day’s time, he could bolt three to four moderate routes, and bolting a harder grade like a 5.12 or 5.13 took more time than he wanted to spend. “I bolted a couple of 5.13s,” he says, “but didn’t enjoy spending three to four days on them.” Where Pedersen and Speed sought routes that matched their aesthetic or athleticism, Boyle focused on bolting as many quality routes as possible. “As long as there weren’t too many death blocks, I’d go for it,” he says. For Boyle, it was simply about the enjoyment of building and developing new routes. He thought nothing of climbing 1,500 vertical feet to find new areas to clean and bolt. Boyle became the modern-day explorer and pioneer of climbing in American Fork. When I interviewed him in 2017, Boyle estimated he had 500 first ascents to his name–but he’s not done yet. Boyle still establishes new routes and crags across Utah in areas such as Wendover, Santaquin and Escalante. While all three believe there are plenty of places still prime for development, they recognize the unique magic of American Fork at its height. Boone tells me the excitement they experienced during American Fork still exists, “but it’s a little like catching lightning in a bottle.”
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 29
UTAH’S LARGEST BEER EVENT
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS live music
FOOD trucks
cashLess wristbands
merchandise vendors
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VIP & EARLY BEER DRINKERS GET IN AN HOUR EARLY EACH DAY
UTAH STATE FAIR PARK 155 N. 1000W. | SLC TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
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UTAH BEER FESTIVAL TICKET IS VALID AS TRANSIT FARE FOR UTA (PRE-SALE ONLY)
LAST
LOOK
Angus M. Woodbury, University of Utah professor emeritus of zoology, inspects petroglyphs on the canyon wall below the mouth of Smith Canyon on the Colorado River Sept. 7-14, 1957 Photo by Stan Rasmussen, courtsey of Utah State Historical Society
July 2019 • Vamoose Utah | 31
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