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Show THE HISTORY BLAZER NEW'S OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grade Salt Lake City. tTT 84101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 Historic Mural Depicts Price History WHENP RICE- BORANRT IST LYNNF AUSETTbe gan work in 1938 on a mural for the newly-constructed Price Municipal Building, little did residents know that the mural would become one of the treasures of Utah's experience during the Great Depression. Lynn Fausett was born in Price in 1894. He studied art, math, and geology before entering the University of Utah to pursue a degree in mining engineering. When World War I broke out he joined the Navy and served until 1920 when he returned to Price. No longer interested in becoming a mining engineer, Fausett hitch- hiked his way from Price to San Francisco where he signed on with a merchant ship bound for New York. Once in New York, he registered with the Art Students League and worked several years in a large mural studio. During his stay he also studied and painted during the day and worked at nights for the New York Bus Company, using part of his earnings to spend summers in France and Italy studying Old World frescos and mosaics. After nearly two decades in the East, Fausett returned to Utah in 1938 and was employed as an artist with the New Deal's Works Progress Administration ( WPA) program. Because he was not able to work exclusively on the Price Mural, the painting took three years and was not completed until 194 1 . The mural is painted on the four walls of the Municipal Building's main floor foyer and depicts scenes from the early history of Price and Carbon County. The story begins in the center of the west wall where the first cabins in the area, built by Abram Powell and Caleb B. Rhodes in 1877, are depicted. The next scene illustrates the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad through the area in 1882- 83 with Chinese workers lifting a rail into place. Other scenes show W. H. Branch surveying the Price Canal in 1884, using a primitive tripod device to establish the proper grade for the canal, and a group of freighters who hauled supplies from the Price railroad to Fort Duchesne in the Uinta Basin. Among this group are A. J. Lee, father of former Utah governor J. Bracken Lee, Sam Gilson, developer of Utah's gilsonite industry, Matt Warner, a former outlaw who became a Price City marshal, and Chuck Fausett, uncle of the artist. One of the most moving scenes in the mural shows the artist as a child leading his blind grandfather, Hans Ulrich Bryner, by the hand. The Swiss- born Bryner, blinded as a child, crossed the plains clinging to the back of a wagon. Once in Utah he raised a large family and was one of the earliest residents of Carbon County. Early Mormon, Methodist, Catholic, and Greek Orthodox churches are depicted, along with such religious leaders as Catholic Bishop Lawrence Scanlan and Greek Orthodox Reverend Mark ( more) Petrakis. The importance of the area's coal mining industry is shown in a scene of a Sunnyside coal mine and wking operations in 1917. It depicts miners of various nationalities who made Carbon County ae most diverse area in Utah. After completing the mural in 194 1, Fausett continued with a distinguished career as a landscape artist. He died in August 1977, but before his death he did touch- up work on the Price mural which was later covered with glass to protect the priceless artwork. Source: " The Price Mural," a two- page description and history of the mwal available at the Price Municipal Building. THE HISTORYB LAZERis produced by the Utah State Historical Society and fuaded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. |
