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Show THE HISTORY BLAZER A'EItTS OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake Citv, LTT 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3303 Charles L. Walker, the Poet Laureate of Southern Utah BORNN OVEMBE1R7 , 1832, XN STAFFORDSHIREEN, G LANDC, h arles Lowell Walker was destined to become one of Mormonism's great diarists and to be called by the settlers of St. George the poet laureate of Dixie. His family had wnverted to Mormonism in Manchester, and at age 17 Charles left England for America, following the example of his older sister AM Agatha. Charles and a friend arrived in St. Louis in 1849. His parents and another sister came the following year. In 1855 Charles came to Utah, working as a teamster for his passage. As a member of the Sixth Ward in Salt Lake City, he was active in church callings, sang in a choir, played in a brass band, and began to write verse. He had begun to keep a journal in St. Louis in 1854. Called to the Cotton Mission in 1862, Charles settled in the ' barren looking place" that became St. George. He became a strong force for good in the community, devoting much of his energy to ' ministering to the poor, the sick, and the lonely. " He also entertained the people with his talents as an actor, musician, and poet. He died on January 1 1, 1904. His journals and poems recorded the events of his time, including Utah's long struggle to achieve statehood, the crusade of federal marshals to arrest polygamists ( Walker himself was captured in August 1892, taken to Beaver for his trial, and fined six cents), an appreciation for nature and the Dixie settlers' struggles with its extreme rampages, and his own spiritual journey. A popular song of his, ' St. George and the Dragon," written in the late 1860s, was sung on many occasions by Walker and others. ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON Oh, what a desert place was this When fvst the Mormons found it; They said no white men here wuld live And Indians prowled around it. They said the land it was no good. And the water was no gooder, And the bare idea of living here, Was enough to make men shudder. Chorus ( more) Mesquite, soap root, prickly - pears and briars, St. George ere long will be a place That every one admires. " Now green lucerne in verdant spots Bedecks our thriving city, Whilst vines and fruit trees grace our lots, With flowers sweet and pretty. Where once the grass in single blades Grew a mile apart in distance, And it kept the crickets on the go, To pick up their subsistence. Chorus The sun it is so scorching hot, It makes the water siz, Sir. The reason why it is so hot, Is just because it is, Sir. The wind like fury here does blow, That when we plant or sow, Sir, We place one foot upon the seed, And hold it till it grows, Sir. See A. Karl Larson and Katherine Miles Larson, eds., Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, 2 vols. ( Logan: Utah State University Press, 1980); Allan Kent Powell, ed., Utah History Encyclopedia ( Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994); " Song, ' St. George and the Dragon,'" Utah Historical Quarter& 19 ( 1961). nia HISTORY BLAZER is produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. 951217 ( MBM) |
