Historic Tales Of Utah

From the rugged beauty and refined splendor of this vast state emerges a remarkable volume of personal recollections, narrative histories and astonishing stories. Explore the fortitude and cultural diversity behind the development of Utah through "Big Bill" Haywood, vilified by the New York Times as "the most feared figure in America." Experience compelling accounts of women bruised on the front lines of suffrage battles, enthralling stories of Chinese "paper sons and daughters" and heroic endeavors of Northern Ute firefighters. Celebrate downtown's "Wall Street of the West," the off-road cyclist known as the "Bedouin of the Desert" and Utah's love affair with sweets. Culled from her popular Salt Lake Tribune "Living History" column, award-winning author Eileen Hallet Stone uncovers captivating tales of ordinary people and their extraordinary contributions that shaped Utah history.

Utah may be best known for its mesmerizingly beautiful high deserts, the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere, and as the home base for one of the world’s most popular religious groups, but few may know about the Lost Rhoades mine purportedly full of gold treasure, the unseen residents of Heritage Park, or an unusually large, three-toed primate that steals livestock. Each episode included in this book explores unusual phenomena, strange events, and mysteries in Utah’s history. From Butch Cassidy's clever Castle Gate robbery to reported sightings of UFOs and aliens, Utah Myths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of the state's most fascinating and compelling stories.

This book is a joint project of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs and the Utah State Historical Society. It is distributed to the book trade by Utah State University Press. The valleys, mountains, and deserts of Utah have been home to native peoples for thousands of years. Like peoples around the word, Utah's native inhabitants organized themselves in family units, groups, bands, clans, and tribes. Today, six Indian tribes in Utah are recognized as official entities. They include the Northwestern Shoshone, the Goshutes, the Paiutes, the Utes, the White Mesa or Southern Utes, and the Navajos (Dineh). Each tribe has its own government. Tribe members are citizens of Utah and the United States; however, lines of distinction both within the tribes and with the greater society at large have not always been clear. Migration, interaction, war, trade, intermarriage, common threats, and challenges have made relationships and affiliations more fluid than might be expected. In this volume, the editor and authors endeavor to write the history of Utah's first residents from an Indian perspective. An introductory chapter provides an overview of Utah's American Indians and a concluding chapter summarizes the issues and concerns of contemporary Indians and their leaders. Chapters on each of the six tribes look at origin stories, religion, politics, education, folkways, family life, social activities, economic issues, and important events. They provide an introduction to the rich heritage of Utah's native peoples. This book includes chapters by David Begay, Dennis Defa, Clifford Duncan, Ronald Holt, Nancy Maryboy, Robert McPherson, Mae Parry, Gary Tom, and Mary Jane Yazzie. Forrest Cuch was born and raised on the Uintah and Ouray Ute Indian Reservation in northeastern Utah. He graduated from Westminster College in 1973 with a bachelor of arts degree in behavioral sciences. He served as education director for the Ute Indian Tribe from 1973 to 1988. From 1988 to 1994 he was employed by the Wampanoag Tribe in Gay Head, Massachusetts, first as a planner and then as tribal administrator. Since October 1997 he has been director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs.

This book uncovers their astonishing true stories of the notorious Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Kid Curry, and Gunplay Maxwell, as well as those of equally raucous but lesser known outlaws and crimes from Utah history.

From the U.S. Army’s bloodless “invasion” of Salt Lake City to the humble beginnings of the Sundance Film Festival, It Happened in Utah looks at intriguing people and episodes from the history of the Beehive State. Read about Jean Baptiste, an exiled grave robber whose mysterious disappearance from a remote island in Great Salt Lake remains unsolved. Relive the life-shattering upheaval suffered by Japanese Americans during their banishment to remote U.S. internment camps during World War II. And discover how two boys on the hunt for a bit of fun killed five people—including themselves—caused untold property damage, and left a large crater in the earth.

From Jedediah Smith's final moments to persistent rumors of bigfoot, from the rise of an unlikely uranium magnate to the mysterious end of Butch Cassidy, this selection of twelve stories from Utah's past explores some of the Beehive State's most compelling mysteries and debunks some of its most famous myths.

For nearly a hundred years, the state of Utah has played host to scores of Hollywood films, from potboilers on lean budgets to some of the most memorable films ever made, including The Searchers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Footloose, and Thelma &telling how these films were made, what happened on and off set, and more. As one Utah rancher memorably said, Hollywood moviemakers "don't take anything but pictures and don't leave anything but money." James V. D'Arc, Ph.D., is Curator of the BYU Motion Picture Archive, the BYU Film Music Archive and the Arts and Communications Archive of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University. He directs the BYU Motion Picture Archive Film Series, produces a CD series of original motion picture soundtrack, and appears on DVD documentaries dealing with classic films. For over 30 years, Dr. D'Arc has lectured internationally on motion picture history and has taught film courses at BYU. He lives in Orem, Utah.

Characters ranging from Mormon pioneers to Butch Cassidy all helped give the Beehive State color and tenacity. Uncover the state's hidden gems with stories like the first group of Latter-day Saints who arrived in the Salt Lake Valley days before Brigham Young proclaimed it as "the right place." Meet an ancient prophet believed to have walked the arid landscape, offering his blessing on several sites long before the pioneers arrived. Learn why a former lawyer was buried without a proper headstone. Discover the state's quirky side with the strange goings-on at an obscure ranch and the alleged monsters once believed to haunt some of Utah's lakes. Author Andy Weeks offers this quirky and informative collection of little-known tales about the forty-fifth state.