111789

Page 159

H orace G r e e le y , v i s i t e d t h e S a l t Lake V a lle y and commented t h a t " t h e h o u se s g e n e r a l l y s m a ll and o f one s t o r y — a r e a l l b u i l t o f adobe (s u n h a rd e n e d b r i c k ) , and have a n e a t and q u i e t lo o k " ( G r e e le y , 1 7 4 ). An e ven b e t t e r known t r a v e l e r was t h e famous B r i t i s h e x p l o r e r and s c h o l a r , S i r R ic h a rd B u rto n . While v i s i t i n g t h e S a l t Lake V a lle y i n 1860, B u rto n n o te d t h a t th e " t h i c k s u n d r i e d ad o b e" i n Utah was "common t o a l l p a r t s o f t h e E a s t e r n World" s o t h a t " a t a d i s t a n c e th e a s p e c t was somewhat o r i e n t a l " ( B u r to n , 1 9 6 -1 9 7 ). R e f e r e n c e s t o and d e s c r i p t i o n s o f Mormon adobe work a r e num erous, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e p e r s o n a l d i a r i e s and h i s ­ t o r i e s w r i t t e n by t h e p i o n e e r s t h e m s e l v e s . The b e s t d i a r i e s have been p u b l i s h e d , and many o f t h e l e s s e r known h i s t o r i e s have been c o l l e c t e d and p u b l i s h e d by t h e D a u g h te rs of th e Utah P i o n e e r s and o t h e r g ro u p s . Most o f t h e c o u n ty h i s t o r i e s and c e n t e n n i a l s a l s o d e s c r i b e i n v a r y i n g d e t a i l b o th th e methods o f making adobe and many s p e c i f i c s a b o u t v a r i o u s adobe houses. R e f e r e n c e s t o U tah adobe a r e a l s o common i n th e g e n e r a l Utah h i s t o r i e s w id e ly a v a i l a b l e t o s c h o l a r s and th e p u b l i c w i t h i n and o u t s i d e U tah. N e v e r t h e l e s s , ig n o ra n c e of Mormon adobe work p r e v a i l s and r e v e a l s i t s e l f i n u n e x p ec te d sources. For i n s t a n c e , i n 1965 t h e USDA p u b l i s h e d a map d e p i c t i n g a r e a s o f t h e U n ite d S t a t e s i n which adobe and e a r t h b l o c k s had b een u s e d ; w i t h i n U tah o n ly a s m a ll p a r t o f th e S a l t Lake V a lle y and a s t r i p a c r o s s s o u t h e r n Utah i n h a b i t e d l a r g e l y by I n d i a n s a r e m arked. T h is ig n o ra n c e i s by no means c o n f i n e d t o t h e p r o d u c e r s of t h a t map o r t o t h e g e n e r a l Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.