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Show HISTORICAL NOTES The Cache Valley chapter of the Utah State Historical Society, first local historical society in Utah, was organized October 24, 1951, under the direction of Dr. Joel E. Ricks, President of the State Historical Society. Preliminary steps were taken on October 10 in the auditorium of the Cache Public Library when thirty-five Cache Valley citizens met to outline plans for the formal organization and selected an organizational committee of six members to prepare a list of candidates. At the October 24th meeting the following officers were selected: Dr. William Peterson, director emeritus of Utah extension service, president; Professor Leonard J. Arrington, assistant professor of economics at Utah State Agricultural College, vice-president; Mrs. Leona B. Gardner, secretary; and Dr. George S. Ellsworth, Agricultural College history department, treasurer. A board of directors consisting of three members was also appointed to act as an executive committee. They are Bishop Ariel Jorgensen, Amalga; S. A. Dunn, Hyrum; and Dr. Eugene Campbell of the L. D. S. Institute at Utah State Agricultural College. The Cache Valley chapter is the first of a number of local groups which the State Society hopes to help organize in the next few years. The purpose of these societies will be to stimulate interest in historical research and to gather, preserve, and publish local historical records such as diaries, journals, and relics. Since its rather recent organization, this Cache Valley group has been very active in holding meetings, in discussing and making plans to gather the historical material of its area. At the October meeting, Dr. Joel E. Ricks gave an interesting review of the recent book published by the Utah State Historical Society, Pageant in the Wilderness, under the authorship of Herbert E. Bolton. This volume is the story of Father Escalante and his journey of exploration through Utah in 1776. In November Professor Arrington gave a lecture on the "Rise and Fall of the Logan Cooperative Institution." At this same meeting President Peterson presented forty-four suggested subjects for further study and discussion as they related to Cache Valley history. During the January meeting Dr. William Peterson gave an illustrated lecture on "Cache Valley Before Man Came." 202 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Mrs. Leona B. Gardner, secretary, reports that the organization is making definite progress toward its goal of finding and preserving the history of Cache Valley and Utah. She reports a mailing list of 105 interested people, an average attendance of 35 at meetings, and 44 paid active members. Here is an active effective organization that other sections of the state would do well to emulate. Establishment of a national cemetery for Utah at Fort Douglas has been recommended by Utah Senator Arthur V. Watkins. Nearest burial facilities for veterans are presently located at Denver, and results of a survey conducted several years ago indicated that from a geographic standpoint Utah was entitled to a national cemetery. Army officials are investigating the practicability of such a measure. Under the general supervision of Mr. Dale L. Morgan, the Utah State Historical Society is compiling a Union Catalog of Works on Mormons and Mormonism. This catalog is mainly the results of the researches of Mr. Morgan in the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library, but also includes the holdings of other libraries never reported to the Union Catalog but which his personal researches about the country have established. Through this catalog the Society will become the starting point for nearly all researches in Mormon history, for its files will indicate not only what books have been published and by whom, but in how many editions and in what libraries they may be located. The value of the catalog is considerably increased by the fact that it will be kept up to date. In order to do this the Society has taken steps to be advised of all current acquisitions pertaining to the Mormons received by most of the outstanding libraries in the country. It is hoped that publication of this catalog can be made possible at an early date. Mercur, Utah, population 2, is the second smallest town in the United States, an honor bestowed by a recent census. Mr. and Mrs. Helmer L. Grane, who moved to Mercur four years ago, comprise the total population. Mercur, at one time a thriving boom-town, was depopulated by two fires, a flash flood, and played-out mines. Douglas, Arkansas, with a population of 1, won over the Utah town to become the smallest city. HISTORICAL NOTES 203 Mrs. Bernard H. Glenn, of Fowlerville, Michigan, has presented to the Society two plates issued as souvenirs of the thirty-eighth and fortieth anniversaries of W. H. Wright and Sons Company, Ogden, Utah. The plates are blue and white and bear pictures of W. H. Wright in addition to scenes depicting early historical events in Utah. The plates may be seen on display in the offices of the Society. The one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first permanent settlement in Nevada was officially celebrated July 14, 1951, at Genoa, Nevada, first Mormon settlement in Carson Valley. Other "firsts" in the history of Genoa include the first permanent dwelling in the state of Nevada, the first trading post, the first legislative assembly, and the first newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise, which was established December 18, 1858. The Utah Historical Society is fortunate in having received one of the three-cent stamps of the first day of issue prepared especially for the celebration. The Historical Society of Montana has recently begun the publication of The Montana Magazine of History, under the able direction of K. Ross Toole, editor. Volume I, Number 1, was published January, 1951. The Utah State Historical Society congratulates Mr. Toole and his staff on their excellent magazine. Among the more valuable acquisitions of the Society in the last few months have been the following books and documents: From the files of the office of the Secretary of State the Society has been presented with an original document signed by Ulysses S. Grant appointing George W. Emery "to be Governor of the Territory of Utah, to take effect July 1, 1875, vice S. B. Axtell who has resigned." The proclamation also bears the seal of the Department of the Interior. Through the courtesy of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Miss Edith A. Smith, the Society has also obtained for its files microfilm copies of the journals of Elias Smith pioneer editor of the Deseret News. An excellent history of the organization of the Columbia Steel Corporation and its developments has been presented to the Society by Governor J. Bracken Lee through the courtesy of Mr. L. F. Rains. This history consists of photographs, newspaper and trade journal clippings, original documents, and correspondence. The Society 204 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY is proud to preserve the history of an organization so important to the industrial growth of Utah. Recent accessions of importance to the library are: Reuben G. Thwaites, ed., Early Western Travels, 32 vols. John A. Sutter, New Helvetia Diary. Henry R. Wagner, The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America To the Year 1800, 2 vols. E. E. Rich, ed., Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country Journals, 1824-25 and 1825-26. Clarence A. Vandiveer, The Fur-Trade and Early Western Exploration. Members of the Society and their many friends were saddened to learn of the deaths of Noble Warrum, Sr., and Flora Bean Home. Noble Warrum was a well-known historian and editorial writer for the Salt Lake Tribune. He was author of Utah in the World War and Utah Since Statehood, a four-volume history of Utah. Mrs. Home was a past president of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and retired secretary-treasurer and librarian of the Utah State Historical Society. |
