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21 Mormon A d o b e c ra ft The Im p o rta n c e o f Adobe i n Mormon F o lk C u l t u r e P o p u la r im ages o f p e o p l e s and p l a c e s i n th e p a s t commonly l i n k c e r t a i n cu sto m s w ith s p e c i f i c p e o p l e s . The r o d e o and roundup a r e a s much a p a r t of t h e image o f th e A m erican cowboy a s m is s i o n s and p a d r e s a r e o f Old C a l i f o r n i a . Log c a b i n s a r e t o t h e A m erican f r o n t i e r w hat s q u a t adobe s h a c k s a r e t o t h e Mexican S o u th w e s t. But f o l k custom s a r e seldom a s e x c l u s i v e l y c o n f i n e d t o one g ro u p a s p o p u l a r im ages su g g est. I n t r u t h , lo g c o n s t r u c t i o n was more common among some M exicans t h a n was adobe ( G r i t z n e r ) , and adobe c o n s t r u c ­ t i o n became a s t a n d a r d f o r some A n g lo -A m erican s, e s p e c i a l l y t h e Mormons. In t h e p o p u la r mind, how ever, "adobe" and "Mormon" do n o t commonly go t o g e t h e r . I t seems t h a t th e r o m a n tic image o f an a x - w i e l d i n g Mormon p i o n e e r w i t h h i s lo g c ab in p r e v a ils . T h is i s i r o n i c i n view o f t h e w id e s p r e a d u s e and i n some p l a c e s c o m p le te dominance o f adobe o v e r l o g i n e a r l y U ta h . T r a v e l e r s i n Utah v i l l a g e s to d a y o f t e n s e a r c h i n v a in f o r t h e re m a in s o f th e u b i q u i t o u s l o g c a b i n s which s u p p o s e d ly once p r e v a i l e d . In d e e d , i n m ost U tah c o m m u n ities t o d a y , i f t h e r e i s one t r u e p i o n e e r l o g c a b i n v i s i b l e i t i s m ost l i k e l y t o be found i n th e c i t y p a r k c a r e f u l l y r e s t o r e d and p r e s e r v e d b y t h e D a u g h te rs o f th e Utah P i o n e e r s . The fo rm a l p r e s e r v a ­ t i o n o f t h e s e c a b i n s h e l p s t o p e r p e t u a t e t h e i r p o p u la r r o m a n tic im age. I t i s t r u e t h a t t h e Mormons, h a v in g o r i g i n a t e d Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.