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Show 82 rather than Zion Canyon, as it would help in markeling. 238 Sall Lake City Mayor C. Clarence Ncslen reinforced the assertion that Utah looked at its new park as a way to gain national legitimacy. He said the park would "show to the country at large that Utah had a fine group of scenic attractions as could be found anywhere in the United States."23 ~ Grant, the LDS church president, told how his trip to Zion had "completely converted him to a realization of the fact that it was one of the greatest of nature's attractions in the country." 240 A hhough everyone praised the scenery, no one talked of its preservation. Mather articulated the purpose of national parks as providing "recreation centers for the American people."241 Before Mather lcfi the state, he met in Salt Lake City with Governor Bamberger to discuss road construction in Southern Utah. But the headlines generated from that meeting were not just about roads. Mather had also talked to the governor about protecting the scenic beauty of the national parks. lie expressed concern that farmers and ranchers in the West wanted reservoirs in national parks to irrigate surrounding agriculture. The Deserer News reported that Mather had said, "people in the intennountain country claiming for irrigation reservoirs in national parks had belter consider the story of killing the goose that lays the golden egg ... [People] who arc so anxious that irrigation facilities be placed in the parks, little realize how this would mar m Salt lake Tribune, "Trade Tourists Welcomed llome," September 21, 1920, 20. m Deseret Ne,,,.·s, "J)escribes Dedication Ceremonies," September 19, 1920. 240 1bid. 241 Ibid. |
