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Show 74 national parks finally threw up their hands in astonishment and rushed down to Zion's canyon to sec what the pictures were all about.',2°2 Some in Utah's religious communities also weighed in on the benefit of Zion National Park to the state's identity. The Reverend H. T. Zeiders of the Liberty Park Methodist Church dedicated the majority ofa Sunday sermon to praising the region's scenery. He said, "The opening of Zion Canyon as a national park, is a great step forward. It will do wonders in advertising Utah's possibilities."203 He encouraged his congregation to use the attention from the park's creation "in placing the state and its people in proper light before the world.',2 04 When lloward H. Hays, general manager of Yellowstone National Park and onetime director of the United States Railroad tourist bureau, stood before the Salt Lake City Commercial Club and referred to Utah as the "center of scenic America," the response was wild applausc. 205 One month later, The Salt Lake Tribune credited Mather with coining the "scenic America" phrase in reference to Utah, "or, if not his invention, it has at least his hearty endorsement.•,2°6 The assertions that Zion National Park would create legitimacy for a state that often felt out of place were implicit in the news columns of both Salt Lake newspapers. The Deseret Evening News was the more passionate of the two in boosting the park as a 261 Salt Lake Tribune, '·Fight for Wonderland," November 23, 1919. Deseret Evening News, "l'astor Makes Spirited Boost for Utah; Condemns Perfonnancc at Pittsburg," November 24, 1919, sec. 2, I. it» W4 1bid. i os Salt Lake 7'rib1111e, ·Park Is Reality," November 25, 1919. 106 Deseret Evening News, "Center of Scenic Americo," December 20, l 919. |
