Corinne - The Gentile Capital of Utah

Culture on the bear

4Hfe*I!f Culture onthe~Bear Holiday Extravaganzas The most extravagant social events held in Corinne were the cele­brations commemorating the founding of the town and the nation. The first pioneer day, held March 25, 1870, the anniversary of the sale of city lots, was an all-out affair starting with a sunrise cannonade, followed by a thirteen-gun salute at ten o'clock in the morning, the exact hour when the first lot was sold to Harry Creighton. Col. A. W. Taylor of the Oriental Powder Company had thoughtfully given several kegs of powder to the Pioneers' Association to ensure adequate explosive demonstrations. At noon a mass meeting of citizens at the baseball grounds included on the program an address by the historian of the pioneers, followed by another salvo of artillery. A baseball game next ensued, punctuated by guns fired at intervals and another bom­bardment at the end of the game. The evening's agenda featured a banquet and an all-night dance. Prominent federal officials from Salt Lake City were invited to attend the festivities, and the Reporter thought the day was a proud one for Corinnethians.1 As the second anniversary neared, editor Dennis Toohy waxed lyrical in reviewing the great accomplishments of Corinne's pioneer founders after two years: "Out of the struggles and difficulties of the desert they have built a city greater than was ever seen by Romu­lus. . . . " A few days later he became more pragmatic as he warned 223 his readers against escorting "outcast females" from adjacent cities to the grand ball. Apparently, such wayward damsels had been intro­duced into the previous Christmas dance much to the dismay of the ladies of Corinne.2 This second pioneer day celebration was more elaborate than the first in keeping with the increased prosperity and self-importance of the town. Although Toohy thought that to depict adequately the day's events was a task beyond his capacity as a writer, he nevertheless pro­ceeded to devote six full columns to his blighted effort. After the pre­dictable baseball game in the afternoon and several more hours of "promiscuous hilarity," at seven o'clock everyone jammed into the opera house to hear the program of the day. E. P. Johnson delivered the principal oration, duly reported in two columns. Next came the recitation of a poem by Nat Stein, cashier of the Warren Hussey Bank and poet laureate and minstrel singer of Corinne. The poem was also two-columns long and included such sentiments as Then arose a magic city where a wilderness had been, Named in lovely maiden's honor, 'tis our own beloved Corinne. May its glory, never waning, gain increase with added years, And perpetuate the praises of its early Pioneers.3 This poem, and others in later years from the pen of Nat Stein, described in Homeric stanzas the development and industry of the town. The day ended with a banquet, laced with song, poetry, elo­quence, and wit. The anniversary festivities for the next two years followed the pattern set in 1871. The 1872 celebration ended at night with a program and a grand ball in the opera house, music for the latter being furnished by Croxall and Olsen's band of Salt Lake City. The Utah Central Railroad sold special round-trip tickets from Salt Lake City for five dollars apiece. The achievements of Corinne were told in a "volume of labor's greatest victories." A year later, pioneer day began and ended with salutes of one hundred guns; included the tradi­tional oration, this time by the ever ebullient Judge Toohy; a two-column commemorative poem by Nat Stein; and a banquet and grand ball at which one hundred and fifty couples cavorted around the floor until the early morning hours.' After a somewhat similar celebration in 1874, the residents of the town remembered their sixth birthday in 1875 with only a grand 224 Corinne anniversary dance, accompanied by light refreshments, at a dollar fifty per ticket. Apparently, many of the founders of Corinne had departed for brighter prospects elsewhere, leaving latecomers with only dim memories of the earlier hopes of the metropolis of the hills. Despite slipping fortunes, the town and its few remaining first settlers kept up the tradition of a pioneer day by holding a masquerade ball in March 1878.'' But gone were the cannonades, the epic poems, and the flour­ishing orations. Of even more importance to Corinnethians than their founder's day was a celebration of Independence Day as a symbol of patriotism in the land of the suspect Mormon people. The first Fourth of July, in 1869, had gone by without any recognition because of uncertainty about the longevity of the new town. But by the following year Corinne could present a prosperous appearance, and ambitious plans were laid for a magnificent holiday. A general committee of thirty-one was named and included representatives from Salt Lake City, Ogden, Stockton, Cottonwood, Wahsatch, and Kelton as well as Malad City and Fort Hall, Idaho, a recognition that this was to be Gentile day in Utah.0 The city council appropriated the significant sum of one hundred dollars for the occasion,7 A. M. Fitch threw open his newly completed bridge across Bear River free to all until after July 5, and three refreshment bowers were completed to care for the nourishment needs of the visitors. Dr. O. D. Cass made a special trip to Salt Lake City to secure the support of Gen. C. C. Augur, com­manding the Department of the Platte which included Camp Douglas, and returned to Corinne triumphantly with a big gun, a "splendid brass piece," for an appropriate noisemaker.8 The glorious holiday opened with a one-hundred-gun salute at sunrise and a procession of military companies, the local fire depart­ment, the Civic Association, two baseball clubs, and most of the re­maining citizens. The new opera house was dedicated at 10:00 A.M., the program including a reading of the Declaration of Independence and an oration by Gen. George R. Maxwell. Then came aquatic sports, baseball exercises, dinner, a "great fat man's race, when several leviathans of the mountains will contest for the supremacy of weight and speed," a lean man's race, horse racing, the championship base­ball game, a trial of Babcock fire extinguishers, a display of fireworks, and, finally, at 9:00 P.M., a "great terpsichoreal dedication" of the opera house to close the day's events." Culture on the Bear 225 Stung by the patriotic leadership of Corinne in remembering Independence Day, the Gentiles of Salt Lake City announced plans to emulate their brethren on the Bear by celebrating the 1871 day in style and power. The New York Herald hailed the public procession being organized as a way of making plain to Brigham that no longer could he control affairs in Utah. The Salt Lake committee was very careful to include four representatives from Corinne in its twenty-five-man committee, Dennis Toohy leading the list, and to invite Corinnethians to join with them in celebrating the Fourth of July. The Salt Lake Tribune tactfully noted, "The bright enterprising loyal patriotic and wide awake city of Corinne is always true. It utters no doubtful sound." 10 Toohy applauded the patriotism of his fellow Gentiles in Salt Lake City, blasted the Mormons for having dishonored flag and country, and urged his fellow townsmen to accept the generous invita­tion of the Salt Lakers. Besides, by then Toohy had been asked to give one of the ten-minute orations on the program and poet Nat Stein had been flattered with a request to produce one of his epics for the occasion.11 Arrangements were made for an excursion via the Utah Central Railroad and a special tour to the capital city on board the City of Corinne. Toohy urged the visitors from Corinne to take passage on the steamboat and thus escape the annoyance of a ride in the church cars.12 The Keepapitchinin ridiculed the Gentile efforts by noting that the procession would be led by "the piper that played before Moses" and would also include "Tom Paine on a bust . . . [and] the Methodist minister with a large bottle of Paine-killer." 13 Undaunted, the people of Corinne traveled to Salt Lake City on the appointed day and enjoyed the hospitality of their fellow Gentiles as they listened to their favorite orator and poet compete for favor with the best of the capital city. Toohy devoted a page and a half of his Corinne Reporter to describe how the voice of freedom had been heard in the center of Mormondom. Of the five thousand estimated participants, Corinne supplied two hundred, with delegations repre­senting the Salt Lake Navigation Company, the Corinne baseball club, and a city contingent with a banner bearing the lines: We come a loyal brotherhood, From off the banks of Bear; To this great Freedom Jubilee, and rallying-time to share. 226 Corinne Nat Stein's two-column poem was enthusiastically received by the crowd, especially the lines, "Land where neither mad ambition nor its liegeman bigot hate, Can intrench their loathsome forces by uniting church and state." 14 The Deseret News derided the Gentile procession which reminded the editor, George Q. Cannon, of a funeral. Dennis Toohy replied to " 'holy ghost' Cannon" that for once he agreed with his Mormon antagonist. It was, in fact, a funeral, "and along the streets of Zion it bore the putrified nastiness of Latter Day fraud. But oh! it was a merry burial party. . . ." 15 In 1872 Corinne returned to its own Independence Day celebra­tion, claiming recognition as the only Utah city to honor the birth of the nation. The usual format was followed with a three-column poem by Stein in which he reviewed the history of the nation from Columbus to Washington, a baseball game, a dance, and a program in the opera house during which the orator of the day occupied "more time than the laws of patience justified, and, . . . retired with the unanimous consent of the house." But, then, Toohy was not the speaker on that day. Among the many outside visitors was the Honorable W. H. Clagett, delegate from Montana Territory, recently returned from his triumphant debate in Congress with Delegate William Hooper of Utah.10 When A. B. Knight, visiting Corinne from Montana, sat down to write a friend on July 3, 1873, his reference to the next day's observ­ance of Independence Day struck a new note: "Are going to have a big day here tomorrow . . . make speech - fly Eagle - get drunk - heap Mormons - Girls - crackers - free lunch. . . ." 1T Yes, there were Mormons in the Gentile town on the Fourth - three hundred from Logan and many more from Brigham City, Willard, and other settlements. The reason, of course, was the completion on June 12 of the branch line of the Utah Northern Railroad to Corinne. The ensu­ing period of peace brought the curious Saints to the annual celebra­tion to partake of fifty mammoth hams and the ton of ice, furnished by H. House, and to enjoy the program that featured an opening prayer by Rev. J. M. Jameson of the Methodist church and a bene­diction by Moses Thatcher, Mormon leader and official of the Utah Northern. Nat Stein's ode of the day very carefully omitted any refer­ence to Mormon disloyalty and emphasized friendship, sober sense, and reason. The day's oration by Dennis J. Toohy, who reported his Culture on the Bear 227 own speech, "was well received, as indeed, we are inclined to think it merited." 1S In the crowded streets the lamb and the lion celebrated together as restrictions and animosity were briefly lifted while Saint and Gentile examined each other and enjoyed the festivities. The 1873 Fourth of July celebration marked the end of the grand extravaganzas. Thereafter, as Corinnethians became more concerned with the survival of their town, the demonstrations were very local in nature and often quite unplanned, although the loyal citizens made every effort to keep Gentile patriotism alive. The 1875 anniversary was marked by "just enough liquids absorbed to raise the patriotic sentiments of the people" which, in turn, led to the "firing of pistols and some emphatic talk near the alley north of Montana Street. . . ." The following year, arrangements were made for a roaring time on the Fourth but no specific program was planned. Holidays, along with the town, were growing smaller.10 Baseball Champions The efforts to outdo the Mormons and to display Gentile loyalty by celebrations of Independence Day were matched in Corinne by a determination to defeat every Saints' team in the territory in the national pastime of baseball. In March 1870 the Corinne baseball club was organized with J. Q. Harnish as captain. An exhibition game was played on Corinne's pioneer day between the town's first nine and the second team, called the Pioneer Club for that day. The Reporter remarked on the magnificent appearance of the players which won admiring glances from the ladies present, or so thought the manly edi­tor. The score was 79 to 20 for the Corinne Club, the two teams having elected to use a live rather than a dead ball. A number of practice games were then played. The newspaper followed these sport­ing events rather closely, commenting on such incidents as D. R. Short, captain of the second nine, being hit on the proboscis by a fly ball and the appearance of a Mr. Taylor of Chicago who acted as catcher and gave the boys some "valuable hints as to how things ought to be done" before knocking over several spectators while trying to catch a foul.20 As the players began to feel their oats, challenges were directed to the Eureka Club of Salt Lake City; to the Carlin, Nevada, team with whom the Corinne Club was willing to compete for the cham- 228 Corinne pionship of the Pacific slope; and, particularly, to the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, whose president replied that he was pleased to learn that the national sport had reached Utah and the West and indicated that his team would play Corinne if the Red Stockings should again travel past the railroad town. An impromptu game was played at Corinne with the Box Elder Club, the latter losing by a score of 90 to 50 because, as the Reporter explained, "they have had but little experience in this game. . . . " A return match was sched­uled, as part of Corinne's Fourth of July celebration, for the territorial championship. Corinne apparently won this contest also. In another practice game a team from the U.S. Thirteenth Infantry, in town after a four-hundred-mile march, met the Corinne nine during a terrific dust storm and lost by a score of 62 to 41. In a more important match with a team from arch rival Ogden, Corinne bested the Junctionites 46 to 44 in an extra inning.21 But these games were only preliminary to the real contest between Mormon Salt Lake City and Gentile Corinne. On June 21 the follow­ing challenge was printed in the Deseret News: "We, the Ennea Base Ball players of this city, considering ourselves champions of the Terri­tory, are willing to meet any other club within the limits of the Terri­tory who wish to dispute the claim and contest for the same." 22 Corinne, the obvious target of this invitation, immediately accepted, and the first of three games was played at Corinne on so-called Gentile Day, July 4, with Corinne the victor by 42 to 31.23 The Reporter editor was highly pleased with the outcome and feared the local boys would be "rather indifferent as to their further efficiency." Neverthe­less, he felt confident that the men were "as hot as ever" as they awaited the second game to be played at Salt Lake City on July 24.24 The editor was wrong. Disaster struck the Corinne team at the territorial capital when the Enneas won an easy victory by a score of 74 to 23. The Salt Lake Herald chortled that "the continued 'muffing' and wild play of their opponents [Corinne] caused more than one long face among their adherents." 2r' The Corinne editor reflected the humiliation of his fellow townsmen first by remarking that he no longer thought much of baseball because a man could lose money on it and then by exploring at great length why the team lost. Evidently, Taylor, the catcher and "by common consent the best baseball player west of Cincinnati," had gone into the game with a sore felon on the Culture on the Bear 229 middle finger of his right hand that disabled him and forced him to retire from active play, after which the Corinne players lost interest in the game and displayed anything but good sportsmanship.20 A few days later a Montana visitor reported that the deep embarrassment of Corinnethians was further exhibited by a tombstone erected in the center of the town and draped with a flag of mourning. The following epitaph was touchingly inscribed: "Base Ball Club No. 24 of Corinne, U.T., died July 24, 1870, at Great Salt Lake City, for the want of breath. The members of this deceased club are requested to wear a badge of mourning for thirty days." 27 With some determination Corinne played several practice games in anticipation of the third and decisive contest to be played on a neutral field at Ogden on October 1. At the end of the game a corre­spondent telegraphed the Utah Reporter, "Kill the fatted calf. Corinne walks away with the championship. Corinne 12. Enneas 8." Now it was the Salt Lakers turn to display poor sportsmanship, for although the Corinne players looked forward to the traditional congratulations from their vanquished foe, they waited in vain. The Enneas also declined to partake of a supper graciously offered by their conquerors. Corinne was ecstatic. The Reporter devoted two and a half columns to an account of the game, detailed inning by inning, and to a report of the enthusiastic reception by the entire town and a banquet for the modest heroes at the Uintah House. Some Corinnethians left the game with "snug little sums" as a result of their faith in the prowess of their champions, who shortly threw down the gage of battle to Nevada, California, and Oregon to decide the championship of the Pacific slope.28 There is no record that the challenge was accepted. The following spring the confident champions of Utah Territory made further efforts to arrange a match with California. They re­ceived a formal challenge from the baseball club of Savannah, Georgia, for a trial of skill and heard that Ophir and Stockton had played a game to decide which players should represent the two camps that were "screwing up their courage to challenge the Corinne cusses to a strife for the belt." Corinne issued a formal challenge to the Silver Stars of Carson, Nevada, for a game at Elko to decide the champion­ship of the Great Basin, after which Corinne expected to try for the championship of the Pacific Coast.20 But victorious Corinne had to settle for a less ambitious schedule of games with their Mormon neighbors. 230 Corinne The season started auspiciously with the Corinne Club hosting a grand ball in the opera house for the citizens of the town. In two columns editor Toohy did his best to describe the magnificent affair which was capped by the presentation of a splendid flag made by the ladies of the town for the Corinne Club.30 With this grand trophy to encourage them and with new uniforms lately arrived from Phila­delphia, the players were ready to take on all comers.31 In two warm-up games with the neighboring village of Willard, the Corinne athletes were satisfyingly successful, the second meeting resulting in a victory by a score of 21 to 9. The second game at Willard was a rather informal affair - played on grounds only re­cently cleared of sagebrush - with players stopping for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time to partake of refreshments and lady visitors wandering off to prospect for silver-bearing ore or laughing "heartily at the tumbling feats of the fielders as they rolled over the sage brush." Competition finally became so scarce that the Corinne townsmen organized another team, the Alkali Blinders - composed of out-of-shape town fathers - to play the Corinne Club for what was billed locally as the national championship. Everyone had fun as the umpire, Dennis J. Toohy, awarded the first prize of a "pig-torial copy" of the town's hog ordinance to the "Alks." Entertainment consisted of a ballad about the national sport sung to the tune of "The Old Oaken Bucket." 32 The event displayed the smug satisfaction of the Corinne­thians with their successful club. Except for a friendly contest on July 4 at Salt Lake City where Corinne defeated a pick-me-up team of Salt Lakers by a score of 28 to 21, the really serious contest of the year was with Ogden. The terri­torial championship was at stake, and in the first of three games Corinne defeated the Echoes at Ogden 81 to 9. As the Reporter accurately noted, "At the bat they were tremendous." The second game, played at Corinne, was called at the end of the first half of the eighth inning so the Ogdenites could catch the train home. Corinne had fielded a team of only six players, three being unaccounted for, and had lost the game 54 to 38. The townspeople were highly indig­nant at this " 'foul' blot" on the record of their invincible players and demanded hard practice sessions before the final game to be played at Ogden. Responding to the criticism, the team came through with a win of 65 to 31 over the Echoes.33 For a second year, Corinne Culture on the Bear 231 had displayed its skill and precision in defeating Mormon teams and in retaining the championship for the Gentile town. After the surfeit of victories in 1870 and 1871, Corinne all at once seemed to lose interest in the national pastime so that editor Toohy exclaimed in June 1873 that baseball had disappeared as a town sport.34 Not until the spring of 1875 did another newspaperman, the editor of the Mail, observe that some of the boys were organizing a baseball club for the amusement of the people and remind citizens that in former days the town had been the home of the recognized champions of the Pacific Coast. The new team finally arranged to play a group of soldiers stationed at Corinne and lost the game by a count of 888 to 1, according to the editor, who concluded, "All the spectators present except those religiously inclined, were of the opinion that the newly organized club, instead of playing baseball, had played h 1 with their reputation." 35 Two years later a notice appeared in a Salt Lake journal that Corinne had a baseball club that was ready to accept a challenge from "any nine that can be scared up in Utah." 30 Apparently, the town on the Bear was not the only place that had foresworn undying enthusiasm for baseball, a game that had once given the Gentiles of Corinne dominance over the Utah Mor­mons in at least this one area of human endeavor. The Opera House Concern with Mormondom did not occupy all the time and thoughts of Corinnethians, and even baseball had engendered con­siderable enjoyment apart from the strong desire to defeat their Mor­mon neighbors. Corinne was a happy town. With the cessation of the freighting business by December of every year the citizens were faced with a winter season devoid of much commercial activity and with time to pursue things social and cultural. The stagnant winter of 1869-70 had demonstrated the need of a public hall large enough to seat four or five hundred people for lectures, concerts, and meetings and for the traveling artists and exhibitors who stopped off at this midway station on the Central Pacific Railroad.37 The Reporter was active in encouraging leading citizens to plan such a building and was delighted to report in May 1870 that an organization had been formed to construct a cultural hall in the 232 Corinne Corinne Opera House, built in 1870 and dedicated on July 4 of that year, later served as an LDS meetinghouse. It was razed in 1951. Utah State Historical Society collections. town.38 Twelve prominent residents had incorporated the Corinne Opera House Association on February 18 with merchant E. Conway as president and Dennis J. Toohy as vice-president and a capitaliza­tion of $3,000 in 10 shares of $300 each. Of that amount, $2,875 had been paid in by the time the corporation papers were filed on July 11. The association was not to incur an indebtedness in excess of $1,000. The directors planned to have the opera house completed in time for a dedication on July 4, 1870.39 One of the directors, C. B. Greene, donated a lot on the southeast corner of Montana and Seventh Street for the opera house.40 The rectangular structure was designed by architect Henry Monheim and built in thirty-five days, which attested to the simplicity of architecture.41 On June 30 a flagstaff one hundred feet in height was erected near the opera house, and barring some necessary plastering - not completed until October 1870 - the build­ing was ready for the grand dedication. Later, the owners found it necessary to add a supporting archway in the center of the hall to correct the bad list that had developed from the force of the prevailing winds, and a new stage was added in the spring of 1871.42 A proscenium arch with doors on each side leading backstage, some drapery, and a drop curtain added the finishing touches to the structure. Painted flats that could be moved on and off stage by slid­ing them in grooves allowed changes in scenery. The stage was lighted Culture on the Bear 233 by coal-oil lamps backed by tin reflectors for footlights and by other lamps hung overhead. When the painted drop curtain was displayed, Dennis Toohy reported the reactions of first-nighters to the scenes represented as "the groans of the damned," "the Devil's gate with the hinges broke off," "just before the battle, mother," "a draft of Brig­ham Young's death warrant," "the Endowment House capsized," or the "interior of a female suffrage ballot-box." 4:! The typical opera house audience was rather well behaved, although sometimes a few roughs might upset the decorum of the various productions. Members of the audience were cautioned against whistles and catcalls, men from the freight lines and horse corrals were asked to walk more quietly in their heavy boots during the musical numbers, and others were requested to leave their dogs at home. This last appeal was not always followed. The Reporter occasionally noted dog fights in the opera house aisles. Other rules of the house estab­lished a floor committee that supervised dances and remonstrated against the use of tobacco during performances. Male patrons were instructed that "those who expected to rate with gentlemen, will please not expectorate on the floor of the Opera House." Within a month of the grand dedication the local newspaper reported the structure was occupied two or three times a week with lectures, concerts, and other performances.44 The social activity most often held in the opera house, and at times in other buildings in Corinne, seemed to be dances and formal balls. When the editor of the Daily Mail asked in October 1874 that dancing parties be held at least every two weeks, he probably spoke for most of the able-bodied residents of the town.41 During the early years a rather settled pattern developed for the important dance fes­tivities: an opening ball in the early autumn, a Christmas dance, a New Year's Eve and sometimes a Valentine's Day masquerade ball, an evening in commemoration of the founding of the town, and a Fourth of July hop.40 There were also special ball occasions such as the dedication of the opera house and the launching of the City of Corinne. And finally, there were just dances announced for no reason other than the desire to dance, although someone might dream up an anniversary ball, commemorative of the Battle of New Orleans, with music by Olsen's celebrated band from Salt Lake City, and at the modest ticket price of $3.00.47 234 Corinne The dances usually started at 10:00 P.M., recessed for a mid­night supper, and then continued until 4:00 A.M. or daybreak. At the opera house, Winschells building, the Uintah House, the Central Hotel, the Metropolitan Hotel, or at the Corinne mills - the place did not seem to matter - couples numbering from forty to two hun­dred crowded on the floor. The local newspaper editors often could not contain their romantic memories of the previous evening as they broke forth into extravagant praise and poetry in describing the night's events. The dance was "an uncontrolled rollicking, rolling rout . . . simply a wild romp by all, unfettered by ceremony or tone," from which the participants could not depart without a sigh.48 The poetry included such selections as: Of all the joys vouchsafed to man in life's tempestuous whirl, There's naught approaches heaven so near as dancing with a girl - A reader one hundred years removed from those congenial scenes is left with the strong impression that Corinne was a joyful town, a fun place to spend an evening. No wonder errant Mormons from nearby hamlets often drove their buggies to the Gentile town for a night of terpsichorean bliss.40 That the invitation to dance was not always reciprocated by the Saints was confirmed by at least two sleighloads of Corinnethians who traveled to North String one evening to join a ball in progress at the local Mormon schoolhouse. As the Gentile group entered the hall the Mormon leader announced, "I would inform the parties from Corinne . . . that the house is rather crowded, and their room is more desirable than their company . . . they will therefore waltz out, and that very lively, too." Adding to this paraphrase of the ejection notice, the edi­tor of the Mail composed a full column illustrated poem beginning with: My song is but a mournful ditty, For its how the Mormons treat the whites, So please give me an ear of pity, For the poor, ill-treated Corrineites. A sequel to the story occurred in a few days when a Mormon visiting in Corinne asked one of the would-be dancers where he could find a Culture on the Bear 235 certain individual, to which the Corinnethian replied, "You go to h " 50 Interspersed between the many dances were private parties and community sociables that permitted the young people of the town to get together and the older people to observe their courting and coquetry. One affair of Mrs. Howes was so splendid that the editor of the Reporter was hardly able to describe the sparkling scene, while at another given by Mrs. Alex Toponce in honor of her own birthday the town elite enjoyed themselves as they watched two sedate business­men, E. P. Johnson and N. S. Ransohoff, dance an Irish jig.''1 One sociable held at the opera house engaged the attention of two hundred guests, Patrick E. Connor bought the cake being raffled off, and all joined in such games as blindman's buff and drop the handkerchief. One Salt Laker who attended a party in Corinne in 1876 wrote that when he wanted "a good time hereafter," he would journey to Corinne which was "composed exclusively of Gentiles." 52 More serious cultural pursuits in the form of dramatic presenta­tions also attracted good crowds in Corinne. On July 16, 1870, some of the local talent formed a dramatic association to produce amateur plays. However, the organization was not successful partly because not one lady joined the troupe. As the Reporter explained, the women seemed to require more coaxing than did the young men.53 Professional acting companies found it convenient to stop off in Corinne as part of their transcontinental tours, thus affording Corinne­thians some legitimate and delightful productions. Thomas A. Lyne of Salt Lake City performed in Hamlet. C. W. Couldock and his daughter Eliza appeared in the town and later joined the Jack Lan-grishe Company, which performed Richelieu and The Stranger so artistically that the delighted patrons offered a special testimonial to Langrishe/'4 Carter's Dramatic Combination next demonstrated their histrionic talents so well in The Lady of Lyons, East Lynne, and other plays that later the townspeople offered a complimentary benefit to Miss Carrie Carter. Lesser artists like LePetite Marion, "the star of the continent," acted in an elegant comedy on the stage of the opera house.""' Local groups such as the Ogden Dramatic Company offered creditable performances in Rip Van Winkle and other plays, although this particular offering unfortunately was produced without any scenery. By 1874, however, the better road companies were by-passing 236 Corinne faltering Corinne, and the Mail hopefully reported talk of a theatrical troupe coming to the town to provide entertainment long missed. Further evidence of this lack came with the facetious announcement, "Another disappointment. Edwin Booth will not fill his engagement at the Corinne Opera House this season." 5<i One of the reasons for the dramatic and rather sudden decline in performances in the town was due to the numerous one-horse shows that had perpetrated inept performances before the unsuspecting townsmen. In one full column of fulminations and tirade, editor Toohy discoursed on one J. B. Robinson, "a peripatetic bilk," who left town without paying any of his bills and on the five amateurs from Ogden who supported him. Toohy described each one of the five in intimate detail, one had a head like a beehive with "a bushy crop of hair resembling a faded beet patch"; another was on the "buttermilk order"; a third had "jaws like a Berkshire hog" and carried "a travel­ing lunch, consisting mainly of carrots and smoked frog"; and all spoke "no language corresponding with any living dialect, and are currently suspected of belonging to a race of creatures peculiar to Weber Valley." Of course, much of this derision can be explained by the fact that the five amateur actors were from Mormon Ogden. Toohy later apologized for advertising such imposters in his newspaper.57 One later example of these wandering cheats, a Dr. St. Clair, was met by a small but appreciative audience that punctuated his performance with large Chinese bombs and caused him and his troupe to take the next freight train to Elko.58 Literary entertainments and variety shows also helped to amuse citizens during the dreary evenings of winter.50 Corinnethians were entertained by traveling circuses, a "Museum of Living Wonders" fea­turing a French giant and a lilliputian, an armless man, a memorial service to Samuel F. B. Morse complete with a "panegyrical poem" by- Nat Stein, a $25,000 painted panorama of the great Northwest, the Royal Yeddo Troupe - jugglery and magic, the Living Head (an illusion), and other parlor entertainments.''0 All this attested to the geographical fact that Corinne was a convenient stopping place on the Central Pacific Railroad. But more than drama and traveling exhibits, Corinnethians seemed to love things musical. In June 1870 Miss Kline, just in from Sacramento, started a singing class, and before long there was a Culture on the Bear 237 Corinne Serenading Club that apparently went around in the evening extracting favors from local businessmen as they sang by the light of the silvery moon. Musical artists who visited the town included a Tyrolean Troupe that featured a zither and a peculiar wood and straw instrument,01 the Great Western Minstrel Troupe, the Swiss Bell Ringers, the Rocky Mountain Vocalists of Montana, and Madame Anna Bishop who was billed as a distinguished vocalist.02 Sometimes a visiting artist would join forces with local musicians for a concert. A Professor Farini, pianist and baritone singer, came in from Salt Lake City in the spring of 1871 to conduct a series of concerts that elicited ecstatic reviews from the local editor. The pro­fessor's rendition of "Yankee Doodle" as a piano composition was "beyond our reach, for we have never heard so exquisite a perfor­mance on the piano before." At his last concert Farini indicated that he had decided to move to Corinne and give voice and piano lessons. But his fame was short-lived as reports began to come in from Salt Lake City, Denver, and other points that the professor had failed to pay certain obligations. For once, Toohy found he did not have time to write an opinion in the case of "The People vs. Farini, alias Bilk, Alias Vagabond, alias Loafer, the latter being his most correct mark of identity." °3 Corinnethians preferred their own musical productions anyway, and the opera house was usually filled to hear friends and relatives perform. At one event the local newsmen, one who scarcely knew a "discord from a bed cord," advised the participants to sing the well known and popular songs rather than those of higher artistic merit. Judging from the programs most artists followed that advice.64 Per­haps a quotation from one of the numerous reviews of these popular entertainments will give a sense of the kind of musical numbers offered: This was followed by the beautiful solo "Put me in my little bed" sang by Minnie Montgomery. A pretty song by Lillie Green-wald was received with great applause. Mrs. Glascott, who is ever a favorite with the lovers of music, appeared in those delight­ful songs "Sweet spirit hear my prayer" and "Her bright smile haunts me still," which were rendered in glorious style. "Driven from home," by Miss E. Closser, with her incomparable voice and cultivation, was worthy of that accomplished lady's effort, while raptures of applause followed the excellent singing of "Mi-gnionette" by Miss Jennie Black. Mr. Pratt gathered new laurels 238 Corinne in his rendition of that splendid solo "The little church round the corner. Usually, these entertainments also included tableaux representing such typical scenes as the Empress Josephine signing the divorce, Poca­hontas saving the life of John Smith, and "The good time coming . . . another funny sight, in which the lords of creation were washing, cook­ing and nursing, while the wives were off in Congress or at the Ku-Klux." "" A fixture of the small towns of America in the late 1800s was the brass band. Corinne nurtured its first one in the spring of 1870 when Homer Hewins, a violinist, organized the Brass and String Band of Corinne. Apparently, there were few instruments, because the follow­ing year, in order to get ready for the dedication of the opera house, the loyal citizens subscribed $328.50 to purchase a full complement from San Francisco. To keep in practice and just for fun the musi­cians often serenaded prominent citizens late at night, J. H. Beadle reporting one such incident involving himself.07 But the Corinne organization was never very successful and was reorganized almost every year. In May 1873 another more forceful attempt was made to secure a permanent contingent of musicians, and officers were actually elected to support and encourage a band. It played at civic functions and even offered the musical accompaniment to Mrs. T. B. H. Sten-house's lecture on polygamy. By November, however, the Mail re­ported that the Corinne brass band had given up the ghost. A band of sorts, assembled in a hurry, did furnish all-day music for the municipal election in March 1875. The Mail thought this was a precedent other towns should follow.08 The opera house also played host to a number of lectures, the subject of polygamy seeming to arouse the most interest. In addition to Mrs. Stenhouse, Ann Eliza Young appeared as did a Professor Holmes whose lecture was titled "What I know about polygamy, its creeds and crimes." A Mr. Jones treated the Corinne folks with his discourse on "natural fools," and Mrs. Belle Chamberlain held forth on "Spiritualism." A Professor Reynolds discussed "crayography," and James W. Marshall appeared with a lecture illustrated by such relics as his pick and a piece of the Donner cabin.00 Other cultural pursuits involved the organization of an ephemera] lvceum and an even shorter-lived literarv club. There were occasional Culture on the Bear 239 debating clubs that were allowed to use a room in the city hall one night a week. Abortive efforts were also made to start a public library, the editor of the Utah Reporter donating Beyond the Mississippi by A. D. Richardson and Rev. Edward E. Bayliss giving Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad. This was in June 1870, but a year later no library had been established even though one of the business firms of the city had donated a complete set of Bancroft's historical works.70 Sports and Fraternal Orders Minor diversions for both young and old in Corinne included ice-skating on adjacent Bear River and roller-skating in the opera house at twenty-five cents per ticket, a sport that seemed especially popular judging from the many comments about it in the columns of the Reporter. Occasionally, traveling billiard players would stop off to give an exhibition of skill. Spelling bees also captured the attention of Corinnethians during the long winter months. For the betting fraternity there were cockfights at Burnetts.71 The outdoorsmen enjoyed the wonderful hunting grounds of the Bear River marshes, an area still so teeming with waterfowl that the federal government has set it aside as a migratory bird refuge. To the westerner of the 1870s hunting game was such a natural part of every­day living that it is singular that any mention should be made of the practice, and yet much space was devoted to accounts of hunting parties. Toohy wrote of the geese, ducks, grouse, chickens, brant, snipe, plover, curlew, partridge, pelican, crane, gull, kingfisher, and many other varieties of fowl. He concluded one account with "a blind man can shoot a cart load of birds in one hour. . . ." Corinne nimrods brought in wagonloads of ducks. In one instance three citizens from Salt Lake City shot 176 ducks in a single day and reported it was impossible to miss. Two other men from Corinne killed 135 whistlers in one day's shooting. Such accounts were minor matters to the news­paper which often chronicled hunters returning with several hundred ducks. Boosters for Corinne were careful to explain the attractions in the vicinity for sportsmen.72 Fishing in Bear River was so common that only occasionally did the newspaper mention in rather matter-of-fact fashion that two thousand pounds of fish had been caught in Bear River in just a few days. 240 Corinne One sport, horse racing, was a natural for a frontier trail town whose streets swarmed with teamsters, stagecoach drivers, and wran­glers. At first the eager horsemen just laid out a straight course west of the town, set up some rickety bleachers with local bartender Cad Pace in a booth under the stand to dispense liquid refreshments and cigars, and awaited the challenges. There were always wagers, and newspaper comments usually included reports on the brisk side betting or large sums of money that had changed hands. Races accompanied the annual celebrations of Corinne's pioneer day and Independence Day and special occasions like the launching of the steamer - when­ever a crowd was at hand. The newspaper tried to cover the races, but there were so many that the editor once complained to the owners of the animals to furnish him the proper information for his news items.':f In 1871 the townspeople completed a circular track east of the river, christened it the Lake View Track, and invited Salt Lakers and people from the other Mormon towns to participate in the racing events. As many as two thousand showed up to witness the more excit­ing match races. Finally, in July 1873 twelve prominent citizens of Corinne filed articles of incorporation establishing the Corinne Agri­cultural and Parks Association with a capital stock of 500 shares at $10.00 each and with the twin objects of building a fairground for exhibiting stock and vegetables and of "making a race track within the enclosure for the purpose of trying the speed of horses to be put on exhibition." The latter seemed to be the real purpose. Thereafter, races were run over the Agricultural Park Track.7' During 1872 and 1873 Corinnethians became quite excited over a trotting horse, Mountain Sheep, owned by a town resident. In several match races Sheep rather handily beat Omaha and Dolly Varden, the latter from Salt Lake City. Toohy bragged, for the bene­fit of his Salt Lake rivals, that it was useless for them to bring in any more nags to race the matchless Sheep. However, two months later Sheep proved unmanageable and lost a race to Honest Charley which caused great disappointment among the Corinne fans. The Mining Journal thought that CCorinnethians were "getting horse racing on the brain." By the late 1870s, after many other amusements and cultural attractions had disappeared from the repertoire of the people of Corinne, horse racing remained as popular as ever.' Culture on the Bear 241 Apart from the racetrack, the more refined aspects of culture received the support of the more-or-less professional people of the town, of which there seemed to be a sufficiency of medical doctors. A list of practicing physicians for the years of 1870 to 1878 included three for Corinne: F. J. Bradford, J. W. Graham, and A. M. Mc- Kinney. None was listed for the much larger Brigham City, a fact Corinnethians attributed to the Saints' reliance on the prayers of their elders rather than on nostrums prescribed by doctors. Dentists seemed to come and go; Dr. H. Hadley was a permanent resident, being joined later by a Dr. Stover. All advertised in the local paper, Dr. Graham's notice conveying only the significant information, "Exam­iner of Pensions for Utah." Dr. Hadley's advertisement was more verbose: "Surgeon Dentist. All operations warranted to give satis­faction. Thirty Years Successful Practice." But the public notices of the Corinne medical men were models of good taste and propriety compared to Dr. C. W. Higgins of Salt Lake City whose advertisement in the Corinne Mail occupied an entire column and carried the follow­ing claims: "Fits Cured. Also Cancer, Deafness, Sore Eyes, Tape Worms." The editor of the Mail editorialized in favor of the fabulous cures of Dr. Higgins, late of Boston.70 Attorneys-at-law also advertised, Dennis J. Toohy giving himself free notices in his own newspaper. In addition to many cases involving stolen stock and land ownership, the lawyers also gained some notoriety in the divorce business. But these Gentile attorneys had good competi­tion from their Mormon brethren in Brigham City. The Reporter noted in December 1871 that the probate court of Box Elder County was granting divorces that were as "valueless as the wrappers on chew­ing tobacco." 7T A year later the Utah Mining Journal commented that five dollars would buy a divorce in the Mormon court but doubted that the freedom papers were any more valid than polyg­amous marriages. In 1874 Corinne had its own problems with divorce attorneys as the editor of the Mail asked, "A lawyer of Corinne adver­tizes in the San Francisco papers to procure divorces for ill-mated couples without publicity, and assures those desiring to be free that their presence here will not be required. Who is he?" The news was apparently never revealed. Four attorneys were advertising in the newspaper at the time: William Hyndman, E. P. Johnson, John H. McCutcheon, and W. H. Clipperton.78 Advertisements for the easy 242 Corinne decrees also appeared in the local press: "Divorces Secured - Presence Not Necessary Fee $2.50." Although it is difficult to substantiate the story, some old-time residents later explained how an unhappy spouse could visit a special machine located conveniently in Corinne, insert a $2.50 gold piece, turn the crank, and receive a divorce decree signed by one of the Box Elder County judges. The person then filled in the correct names, and the divorce was legally granted. There was a blank space to be filled out for those concerned with alimony. This divorce slot machine was apparently popular for a time, although its use may have resulted in charges of bigamy for those who remarried.70 For the practitioners of medicine and law, for the businessmen, and for the hoi polloi of Corinne there were three fraternal orders ready to take up any spare time left after filing divorce suits or selling harnesses and groceries. The Corinne Odd Fellows Association was organized May 29, 1870, with Judge S. G. Sewell as president and David Auerbach as secretary. Lodge No. 4 had among the members Brothers J. M. Langsdorf, Strauss, Church, Watrous, Davidson, Green-wald, Reggel, and E. P. Johnson. A later newspaper explained that Hebrew Gentiles tended to join the Odd Fellows more than they did the Masons. Annual Odd Fellows dances were held to raise money for the benevolent fund, and the society was still flourishing as late as 1877.8" A less active order involving both men and women members was the Good Templars which held a number of socials in town and was particularly concerned with the reformation of alcoholics and the local temperance movement.81 The third, and probably the most important, fraternity estab­lished at Corinne was the Masonic order. The history of Masonry in Utah is unique because, contrary to a fundamental principle of Uni­versal Freemasonry which guaranteed privacy concerning personal religion, Masons of the Mormon faith, of which there were some, were denied admission to the order and were not even allowed visiting privileges. As the editor of the Mail noted, the Masons of Utah suf­fered persecution at the hands of the Mormons and battled back as best they could. The Salt Lake Tribune further explained that none of the Saints were Masons, the endowment ceremonies of the Mormon temple having replaced the Masonic ritual.82 It is not surprising that a number of the founders and later town fathers of Corinne were Masons who, as early as November 1869 were Culture on the Bear 243 attempting to get a lodge. Corinne Lodge No. 5 was authorized to meet by an order of October 15, 1872, with twenty-nine Masons listed on the special dispensation. The ubiquitous E. P. Johnson, an attorney and also an Odd Fellow, was chosen as the leader and became the father of Corinne Lodge. A charter was issued November 25, 1873, and forty-five names were listed on the document, most of the promi­nent citizens of Corinne. Thomas J. Black was elected to head the new lodge.83 Very active at first, Lodge No. 5 began to reflect the business decline of Corinne by 1874, and when the Utah grand master visited the Masonic building in September 1877 he reported, The Tyler's room had the appearance of an old store room, in which was deposited all the traps collected by them ever since the whistle of the locomotive was heard in the valley of Wasatch, while the Lodge room seemed to be the repository of the surplus alkali dust of that beautiful city. The grand master was mortified and raised enough dust that the Corinne Masons could only answer, in an attempt at weak humor, that no lodge in Utah had a membership composed of men "more compe­tent to kick up a dust than our Corinne Brethren." Matters had so deteriorated by the 1880s that the Corinne charter disappeared and could not be found. But for three or four years the Masons of the town had sponsored a number of dances for Saint John's Day and other occasions and had worked together informally to further their own business interests and to strike impromptu blows at Mormondom.84 Chinatown A look at culture in the town on Bear River would not be com­plete without also examining cultures, specifically the life-styles and history of the black and Chinese communities of cosmopolitan, yet frontier, Corinne. The black portion of the population was very small, 18 according to the 1870 official census and 26 by the Damon count of 1872. Nevertheless, that was a particularly high percentage for Corinne because the total number in all of Utah Territory for 1870 was only 118. Scattered references by the newspaper editors reveal that there were no black children enrolled in the Damon seminary of 244 Corinne 1870, although a number of citizens of African descent lived in the town. Dennis J. Toohy reported on December 30, 1871, that the black citizens of the town were planning to celebrate the eighth anni­versary of their emancipation from slavery, and the following year he wrote "The colored troops have tendered their services in the parade of the Pioneers. . . . " With these exceptions, and one that mentioned that black citizens had not voted, little notice was taken of any or­ganized activities by the black community.85 Most worked as em­ployees of the various hotels and saloons in the town. Many of the Chinese residents of Corinne had been workers on the construction gangs building the Central Pacific and quite naturally settled down in the new metropolis, seeing opportunities to make a livelihood. The 1870 census listed 89 Chinese while the Damon survey Chinese railroad workers at the laying of the last rail. Andrew J. Russell photograph, courtesy of the Oakland Museum. Culture on the Bear 245 two years later showed 67 in the town.80 The Utah Reporter comment of April 1870 that there were two or three hundred Chinese in the town could have been fairly accurate. The population was in a con­stant state of flux because many used Corinne as a staging area to get to the gold fields of Idaho and Montana. A month earlier the editor had reported the arrival of about fifty Chinese from California headed for Montana and expected another five hundred or so to appear very soon. In April the newspapermen wrote, "about a thousand China­men, more or less, left the city during the week for the Montana gold fields." 87 A few American entrepreneurs entered into the business of shipping Chinese workers to the northern mines, but eventually promoters from among the Chinese themselves settled in Corinne to care for the needs of their countrymen, at a good profit, as these neo­phyte miners prepared to travel from the railhead to the north. Ong Wah sent off two wagonloads of workers in July 1871.8S Not all traveled in such comfort. One observer saw on the road north of Corinne a number of Chinamen on foot, each with a pole over his shoulder, balanced by a bag of rice at one end and a bundle of blankets on the other. They jogged along, in a sort of dog trot, on their way to the mines in Montana, where some of their countrymen have bought out valuable claims.'80 An analysis of the Helena Herald daily listings of stagecoach passengers from Corinne for the late season of September 1 through December 31, 1870, shows 198 travelers who booked passage to the north, of which 40 were Chinese, 21 percent of the total.90 In a tragic incident during March 1870 seven of ten Chinese passengers on one stage froze to death on the Snake River plains when their sleigh upset at Dry Creek. The spot was known thereafter as China Point.01 As the rich diggings played out at the various mining camps Chinese moved in until about half the number of miners in many of the camps were Chinese who could make as much as $4.00 a day working the old claims abandoned by the whites. Furthermore, not only did the Chinese merchants of Corinne profit from the transport of workers, but shippers like Ah Tim, Yee Wah, Young Hing, and Qui Tong Kee & Company kept busy supplying their countrymen in the north with cargoes of rice and other essential foodstuffs and equip­ment. The flow of Chinese into Corinne did not slow appreciably 246 Corinne either, the Corinne Mail reporting in April 1875 that the Chinese quarter of the city was rapidly filling with newcomers.92 At first there were two Chinatowns in Corinne - one on Mon­tana Street and one along the railroad tracks. The Montana section, a flimsy collection of frame and canvas structures, was destroyed by a fire on September 24, 1871, that almost wiped out the whole town. One Chinese woman perished in the blaze, and arson was suspected. Several hundred citizens immediately petitioned the city council for an ordinance making it unlawful for the Chinese residents to erect unsafe structures in the Montana Street area. This confined the new Chinatown to what became known as the steamboat landing on Bear River. The area was governed by a tyee chosen by the residents.93 The Chinese of Corinne, as elsewhere in America, tended to maintain their old culture and so provided exotic copy for the local newspaper. Forced into residential segregation and limited in their social relationships to strictly business dealings with non-Orientals, the Chinese community kept very close contact with China and Kwang-tung Province by the transcontinental railroad to the coast and the direct and frequent ship sailings to and from Hong Kong. Nearly every ship brought new emigrants, many of whom boarded eastbound trains for the Intermountain mines. And, editor Toohy once noted receipt of a subscription for the Corinne Reporter from far-off Ningpo, China. The Chinese of the town on Bear River imported much of their food and many personal articles from China as had their fellow Orientals of the Central Pacific construction gangs. Robert Spiers has listed common articles brought from the old country: Dried oysters, dried cuttle-fish, dried fish, sweet rice crackers, dried bamboo sprouts, salted cabbage, Chinese sugar . . . four kinds of dried fruits, five kinds of dessicated vegetables, vermicelli, dried sea-weed, pea-nut oil, dried mushrooms, tea, and rice . . also pipes, bowls, chop-sticks, large shallow cast-iron bowls for cooking rice, lamps, joss paper, Chinese writing paper, pencils and India ink, Chinese shoes, and clothing imported ready-made from China.94 The Chinese did not drink as much hard liquor as did their white neighbors, and most accounts agreed that the Chinese maintained high standards of personal cleanliness at home and in camp. Two early settlers of nearby Bear River City have left us their impression of the Culture on the Bear 247 Chinese of Corinne who "were most interesting, with their huge peaked hats, black gowns, and the braid of their queue hanging down their backs, as they shuffled along in their sandals. . . ." The two observers also noted the laundryman "who filled his mouth with water, then sprayed it over the clean linen to dampen it before ironing." 9:' With these exotic people as residents of frontier Corinne, it is perhaps not surprising that the editor could announce with pride that Dr. Graham had performed the first amputation on a Chinese in America.90 The Corinne newspapers delighted in examining for their curious readers the strange customs of the people from the flowery kingdom. The Reporter described the first Mongolian wedding in Utah between Mr. John Tip and Miss Ma Choy, who invited a number of promi­nent Caucasian guests to attend the reception ceremony."7 In another story the editor explained how the Chinese maintained a cemetery just northwest of town and each spring placed near the gravesites, for the benefit of their dead, dishes of roast pig, fowl, rice, whiskey, and other delicacies that certain Corinnethians had annually appropriated as a free lunch. That is, until 1877 when in retaliation for forced labor on the streets in lieu of paying a poll tax the Chinese inhabitants removed "the annual cold lunches from the cemetery before their persecutors had an opportunity to make a square meal upon it." 98 Another custom Caucasians found unusual was that of shipping back to China the bodies of departed relatives and friends for proper interment. The unfriendly Corinne Mail reported that "a car load of bones passed through west last night, the remains of Celestials return­ing to the flowery kingdom." Toohy was much more understanding, reporting shipments of as many as twenty-two bodies at one time from Montana to the native land of China for burial. Often members of the local Chinese community at Corinne would place lighted candles around the wagons where the coffins reposed and conduct the time-honored ceremonies.99 One Chinese businessman of Helena, Tong Hing, less reverent than some of his brethren, decided to evade the high cost of freighting some bodies to the old country in $1,000 zinc coffins and, instead, placed the corpses in barrels marked "pickles." An agent at Corinne discovered the ruse, and the Helena Herald thought that Tong Hing might cogitate on the possibility of cremation.100 The outstanding event celebrated by the Chinese of Corinne was the annual New Year's celebration in February. In long accounts the 248 Corinne newspapers described, with tongue-in-cheek accuracy, the events of the several days, including the fireworks, foods, and fun of the holiday. The Utah Reporter recorded that the 1870 performance was in memory of the reign of the Emperor Ah-che-wan and then listed some of the foods consumed: "pickled birds' nests, preserved humming­birds' tongues, dried snakes," and other unusual and fanciful dishes. Toohy later reported a historical oration by one of the leading Chinese citizens and, in typical Toohy Irish flourishes and with some anti- Mormon jibes, explained how the ancient Chinese manufactured sun­beams "until Robinson Crusoe, one of the Kings of Ireland, started a candle factory at New Orleans about three hundred years after the abolition of slavery by Joseph Smith." Leading citizens from among Corinne's population were usually invited to the New Year's celebra­tions and were pleasantly surprised to find so little difference between Chinese and Caucasian perceptions of enjoyment.101 In addition to the profits to be gained from outfitting and supply­ing their countrymen going to the mines, local Chinese engaged in varied occupations, mostly service-oriented. Gambling and prostitu­tion caught the wrath of town fathers but did not seem to diminish much over the years. The Utah Reporter tried to describe one early gambling establishment but finally gave up and merely recorded, "themoreyoulaydownthelessyoutakeup." The Reporter editorialized in vain against the spectacle of Chinese prostitutes openly vying for cus­tomers in the center of town before the eyes of children. In a later blast Toohy asked that the "filthy section" be removed from the main thoroughfare of the town, but it took the conflagration of September 1871 to achieve that objective. After the fire had destroyed the China­town on Montana Street, the city council decreed that no Chinese brothels or gambling houses would be allowed in the new quarter along the banks of Bear River. The houses did not disappear but became more discreet in their operations, although there were frequent newspaper references to appearances before the local court of men and women who were fined for maintaining gambling and bawdy houses.102 A common Chinese occupation was that of washing the clothes of the white residents of the town. Margaret Ferris, a newcomer to Corinne, was quite pleased that her Chinese laundryman did such an excellent job: "My underclothing is beautifully ironed and fluted and Culture on the Bear 249 no fuss made about trimmings." Other customers seemed equally satis­fied, so much so that the Reporter found it necessary to excoriate the Chinese laundrymen who were depriving the white washerwomen of Corinne of a livelihood. The exhausting work paid the women only $2.00 a day, but they were being deprived of even this pittance by their uncomplaining Chinese competition. Although happy to have the menial washing service provided by the Orientals, the citizens of Corinne offered only contempt in return. The Mail recorded one inci­dent in which a Chinese offered his wash bill to a man on the street and was "immediately knocked down for his impudence. Have Ameri­cans no rights which Chinamen are bound to respect?" There were also complaints about the laundries dumping their dirty water into the street gutters and an occasional request to the city council to abate the nuisance.103 Other and varied employment for Chinese included houseclean-ing, baby-sitting by Chinese youngsters brought over especially for that purpose, cooking and dishwashing for the hotels and saloons, working as section hands on the railroad, and laboring in the local stone quarry. One Chinese firm, Tung Yuen & Co., opened a cigar factory and employed fellow countrymen. Another firm, Lin Sow and Ah Po, also in the tobacco business, had one cargo of 13,200 cigars confiscated by O. J. Hollister, U.S. collector for Utah, for not having their tobacco properly labeled and branded as required by the law.104 The newspapers of Corinne adopted very different points of view toward the Chinese residents of the town. The Utah Reporter re­sponded to articles in the western press about the question of Chinese labor by saying, "We'll sell 'em ours cheap." The editor also con­firmed that unscrupulous whites often attempted to throw the blame for robberies and other infractions of the law on the local Chinese com­munity. But Toohy, despite his rather intolerant anti-Mormonism, was uniquely different from most westerners with respect to Orientals. In at least two instances he defended Chinese residents of the town. The first incident concerned a white boss who cursed and beat some Chinese workmen engaged in unloading beams from railroad cars for the construction of the local steamboat. Toohy hoped the "unmanly exhibition" would not be repeated in his town. On the other occasion a white man and a Chinese were cosigners of a promissory note that was overdue. The Chinese man was arrested and jailed for a week 250 Corinne while the white was not touched. Toohy was able to have the Chinese freed. In July 1871 he editorialized at length against the anti-Chinese agitation underway in California, suggesting that Californians could learn something about morals, ethics, and democracy by observing their Chinese neighbors. The Mail edtior, on the other hand, was vituperative against all Chinese and once recommended their extirpa­tion by every possible means.105 Most law-and-order problems with the Chinese of Corinne were connected with "nest-hiding," as the newspaper liked to describe the fights over the wives and women of various Chinese men. The Mail observed that such practices were not confined to the white race, while the Utah Reporter described one typical case in which Ring Chang shot a brother "celestial" in the leg for getting too familiar with Chang's wife. The affair ended in a lot of yelling and calls for the constable and a doctor.100 Occasionally, there were difficulties between white residents and the Chinese, especially if strong drink was involved with either or both parties. Visiting freighters also showed their disdain for the Chinese, sometimes provoking the latter to respond. Toohy reported a battle between a party of teamsters and the Fifth Street Chinese: "As it was, one of the Orientals had his pigtail curtailed, and a mule skinner will hereafter have only one ear to hear through. No arrests made." 107 This was unusual, the Chinese nearly always having to suffer what­ever indignities were imposed upon them. When really serious troubles with their white neighbors occurred the Chinese were at a distinct disadvantage. This was dramatically underscored in April 1874 when an esteemed local businessman, Julius Bornstein, was discovered bludgeoned to death with a blood-stained axe. After an excited chase two Chinese were arrested for the crime, and one, who had been discharged from his employment by the victim, confessed to the murder. The local press reported what happened next: At two o'clock this afternoon, while the officers were endeavoring to take the prisoner to Brigham City for safe keeping, the citizens en masse took him from them, marched him down to the railroad bridge, one mile east of town, and hung him from the trestle work . . . . Public wrath is appeased, quietness prevails again, and the people are happv to feel they have rid the city of a mur­derer 10S Culture on the Bear 251 Two months later the Corinne city authorities attempted to get the Box Elder County court to pay a bill of $69 for guarding the Chinese prisoner who had been hanged. The bill was ignored.109 The Chinese community at Bear River continued until the exten­sion of the Utah Northern Railroad in 1878 began to sap the business life of the town. A few of the Chinese businesses, like the John Yeh Wah wash house, then followed the general exodus to the construction camp of the railroad in Idaho.110 Some moved to nearby towns like Ogden or Salt Lake City, but a small Chinese section remained in Corinne until 1886. In that year, as a result of the general anti- Oriental sentiment rampant throughout the West, a vigilante com­mittee entrained a number of the Chinese of the town on some Central Pacific cars and ordered them "not to return on pain of death." An artist for the Police News in far-off Boston depicted this scene at Corinne for his magazine.111 The Chinese had constituted a pic­turesque and important part of the life of the town throughout its short history but finally succumbed to intolerance. The cultures and culture of the freight town on Bear River were unique and different from those of the Mormon towns of Utah Ter­ritory. Competing with their neighbors in annual commemorative ceremonies for their own pioneer day, the Corinnethians, neverthe­less, spent much time and effort in displaying their patriotism and loyalty to the nation on Independence Day in a determined bid to let other Americans know of the alleged disregard of the Utah Saints for that national holiday. Those festive occasions were, of course, excuses for much fun and recreation as well which the people of Corinne seemed particularly eager to enjoy. Similarly, while appreciating the competition of baseball as a sport, there remained a strong element of rivalry, of wanting to best the Mormon teams of Salt Lake City and Ogden. In other cultural activities and amusements, Corinnethians had few peers in Utah as they danced, sang, lectured, and skated, or watched others do so. Their opera house was their great pride and afforded a convenient building for the many cultural and social events that crowded the winter calendar. Amusements, outdoor exhibitions, and fraternal orders offered further opportunities for fun and frolic. As a frontier town with a cosmopolitan flair, Corinne also boasted a Chinese community that provided needed services and an oppor- 252 Corinne tunity to observe an exotically different life-style. Oriental residents added spice to the life of the town. The only blotch on the whole fagade of merriment was the nagging fear that the fortunes of Corinne might be upset by the successful extension of the Mormon narrow-gauge railroad, an apprehension that in 1874 seemed destined to be realized. Culture on the Bear 253 NOTES FOR CHAPTER 8 1 Utah Reporter, 22, 24 March 1870. 2 Utah Reporter, 11, 14 March 1871. 3 Utah Reporter, 27 March 1871. * Corinne Reporter, 13, 25 March 1872; 19, 26 March 1873; Salt Lake Herald, 23 March 1872. 5 Corinne Mail, 22 March 1875; Jesse H. Jameson, "Corinne: A Study of a Freight Transfer Point in the Montana Trade, 1869 to 1878" (M.A. thesis, Univer­sity of Utah, 1951), p. 226. " Utah Reporter, 5, 7, 30 Tune 1870. 7 Council Chamber Corinne City Minute Book, 20 June 1870, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City. 3 Utah Reporter, 29 June; 1, 2 July 1870. 9 Utah Reporter, 17 June; 2, 4 July 1870. i» New York Herald, 26 June 1871; Salt Lake Tribune, 10, 21 June 1871. " Corinne Reporter, 22 June 1871; Salt Lake Tribune, 28 June, 4 July 1871. 12 Corinne Reporter, 1 July 1871. 13 Keepapitchinin, 4 July 1871. 11 Salt Lake Tribune, 4 July 1871; Corinne Reporter, 5, 8 July 1871. 15 Corinne Reporter, 7 July 1871. 10 Corinne Reporter, 29 June, 5 July 1871; Utah Mining Journal, 6 July 1871. 17 A. B. Knight to Old Boy, 3 July 1873, Charles Bovey Collection, Virginia City, Montana. is Corinne Reporter, 30 June; 1, 2, 3, 5 July 1873; Salt Lake Herald, 6 July 1873. 19 Corinne Mail, 6 July 1875; Salt Lake Tribune, 18, 30 June 1876. 20 Utah Reporter, 15, 24, 26 March; 28 April; 10, 24 May 1870. 2i Utah Reporter, 5, 12 April; 21, 31 May; 5, 17 June; 14 July 1870. 22 Deseret News, 29 June 1870. 23 Salt Lake Herald, 6 July 1870. -* Utah Reporter, 8 July 1870. -r' Salt Lake Herald, 27 July 1870. -o Utah Reporter, 27, 28 July 1870. 27 Helena Herald, 2 August 1870. 23 Salt Lake Herald, 30 September 1870; Utah Reporter, 1, 4, 10 October 1870. 29 Utah Reporter, 17 March 1871; Corinne Reporter, 24 May; 24 June; 13, 15, 22, 25 July 1871. 30 Corinne Reporter, 13, 25 March 1871. 31 Corinne Reporter, 29 March 1871. 32 Corinne Reporter, 2, 7, 8 May; 26 June; 1 July 1871. 33 Corinne Reporter, 28 May; 5 July; 12, 19, 26 August 1871. 31 Corinne Reporter, 4 June 1873. :l"' Corinne Mail, 16 April, 6 September 1875. :l« Salt Lake Herald, 24 March 1877. 37 Rue C. Johnson, "Frontier Theatre: The Corinne Opera House," Utah His­torical Quarterly 42 (1974) : 286. Johnson paints a delightful picture of the opera house and its use. See also Utah Reporter, 16 October 1869. 254 Corinne 38 Utah Reporter, 5 May 1870. 39 Box Elder County Association, 18 February 1870, microfilm, Utah State Archives. i» Utah Reporter, 21 May 1870. 41 Johnson, "Frontier Theatre," p. 287. " Ibid., pp. 292-93. 43 Ibid.; Corinne Reporter, 29 November 1871. 44 Johnson, "Frontier Theatre," p. 293; Utah Reporter, 22 July, 11 October 1870. 4= Corinne Mail, 17 October 1874. lojjtah Reporter, 30 November; 25, 28 December 1869; 19, 24 March; 24 December 1870; Corinne Reporter, 17 September, 26 December 1872; 17 Feb­ruary 1873; Corinne Mail, 17 October 1874; 2 January, 22 March 1875. At one masquerade a dancer appeared attired as a "Mormon-Native." 47 Utah Reporter, 9 July, 4 August 1870; Corinne Reporter, 23 May 1871; 17 June, 4 January 1872; Corinne Mail, 26 September 1874; 17 February, 16 June 1875. 48 Utah Reporter, 23 December 1869, 9 July 1870; Corinne Mail, 2 January, 16 June 1875. 49 Utah Reporter, 25 December 1869, 9 July 1870. so Corinne Mail, 28, 29 January; 2 February 1875. 51 Utah Reporter, 12 February 1870; Corinne Reporter, 21 November 1871. 52 Utah Reporter, 17 July 1870; Salt Lake Tribune, 5 November 1876. 53 Johnson, "Frontier Theatre," p. 288; Utah Reporter, 23 June, 6 December 1870; 26 January 1871. 54 Utah Reporter, 6 January 1871; Corinne City Minute Book, 2 January 1871; Johnson, "Frontier Theatre," pp. 289-300. 55 Johnson, "Frontier Theatre," p. 290; Corinne Reporter, 12 December 1871, 19 May 1873. 50 Ogden Junction, 20 February 1874; Corinne Mail, 6 October, 12 November 1874; Salt Lake Tribune, 5 November 1876. 57 Corinne Reporter, 3 April; 22, 24 June 1871. 58 Corinne Mail, 7 September 1874. ™ Corinne Mail, 18 September 1874. 00 Utah Reporter, 11 June, 6 August 1870; Corinne Reporter, 11 April, 5 June 1872; Johnson, "Frontier Theatre," p. 291. 01 Utah Reporter, 5 June 1870; Corinne Reporter, 10 May 1871; Utah Re­porter, 24 December 1870. 02 Corinne Reporter, 16, 20, 24, 27 June; 29 November 1871; 7 July 1873. 03 Corinne Reporter, 1, 26 March; 1 June; 1 July 1871. 04 Utah Reporter, 19 November 1870. 60 Corinne Reporter, 21 April 1871. 00 Corinne Reporter, 21 April 1871, 29 February 1872. 97 Utah Reporter, 31 March; 19, 23 June; 3 September 1870. GS Corinne Reporter, 31 July 1872, 30 May 1873; Corinne City Minute Book, 25 October 1873; Salt Lake Tribune, 1 August 1874; Corinne Mail, 20 October, 11 November 1874; 5 March 1875. 09 Utah Mining Journal, 19 September 1872; Corinne Mail, 24 October, 11 December 1874; Corinne Reporter, 11 September 1871, 30 November 1872. 79 Corinne Reporter, 16 May; 24, 28 June; 13 October 1871; Corinne City Minute Book, 22 January 1872; Utah Reporter, 5 June 1870. 71 Utah Reporter, 2, 14, 21 December 1869; Corinne Reporter, 12 April; 19, 26 August; 6 September; 13 October 1871; 6 January 1872; Corinne Journal, 9 May 1871; Corinne Mail, 16 April 1875. Culture on the Bear 255 72 Corinne Reporter, 15 July, 19 August 1871; Corinne Mail, 21, 25 Septem­ber; 28 October 1874; 16, 25 March 1875; Salt Lake Herald, 9 January, 17 March, 27 May 1875; Salt Lake Tribune, 22 November 1876. 73 Corinne Reporter, 8, 9, 24 May 1871; 30 June 1873; Utah Reporter, 26 March; 5, 10, 17 June 1870; Corinne Mail, 6 July 1875. 74 Utah Reporter, 10 May 1870; Corinne Reporter, 8, 18 November 1872; Utah Mining Journal, 11 November 1872; Box Elder County Association, 31 July 1873; Corinne Mail, 6 July 1875. 75 Corinne Reporter, 18 November 1872; 21 April, 20 June 1873; Utah Min­ing Journal, 19, 22 November 1872. 70 Christine C. Waters, "Pioneering Physicians in Utah, 1847-1900" (M.A. thesis, University of Utah, 1976), pp. 97-99; Corinne Reporter, 12 May 1871; Corinne Mail, 7, 17 September; 20 October 1874. 77 Corinne Reporter, 2 June, 13 December 1871. 78 Utah Mining Journal, 8 October 1872; Corinne Mail, 17 September 1874. 70 "Divorce by Slot Machine," 21 November 1941, Utah Writers' Project, WPA Collection, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City. 80 Utah Reporter, 31 May; 17 June; 19, 21 September 1870; Corinne Mail, 27 November, 6 February 1875; Salt Lake Tribune, 13 July 1875, 18 January 1877. 81 Jameson, "Corinne: A Study," p. 233; Corinne Reporter, 10 November 1871. S2 "Some Basic Facts Pertaining to Mormonism and Utah Freemasonry," 17 August 1976, Mervin B. Hogan Collection, Salt Lake City; Corinne Mail, 20 Jan­uary 1875; Salt Lake Tribune, 13 July 1875. 83 Jameson, "Corinne: A Study," p. 232; S. H. Goodwin, Freemasonry in Utah (Salt Lake City: Committee on Masonic Education and Instruction, 1926), pp. 17-19. 84 Goodwin, Freemasonry, pp. 19-26, 27; Corinne Reporter, 16 October 1872; Corinne Mail, 15, 23 December 1874; Salt Lake Herald, 26 November 1873; Salt Lake Tribune, 13 July 1875; 18, 30 June 1876. 85 U.S., Ninth Census of United States, 1870: Aggregate Population (Wash­ington, D.C., 1872), pp. 8-18; Utah Reporter, 21, 23 April; 19 October 1870; Corinne Reporter, 30 December 1871; 18, 28 March 1872. so Ninth Census, pp. 1-18; Corinne Reporter, 28 March 1872. 87 Utah Reporter, 29 March; 16, 23 April 1870. 88 Corinne Reporter, 25 May, 14 July 1871. 89 Ogden Junction, 15 June 1870. 90 Helena Herald, 1 September to 31 December 1870. 91 Utah Reporter, 15 March 1870. 92 Helena Herald, 6 June 1872; Corinne Reporter, 22 July 1871; Corinne Mail, 27 April, 26 May 1875. 93 Jameson, "Corinne: A Study," p. 251; Corinne Reporter, 25, 26 September; 18 October 1871; Corinne City Minute Book, 25 September 1871. 94 Robert F. G. Spier, "Food Habits of Nineteenth-century California Chinese," California Historical Society Quarterly 37 (1958) : 130-33; Corinne Reporter, 17 September 1872. 95 Lucinda P. Jensen, History of Bear River City (Brigham City: Box Elder News Journal, 1947), p. 51. 90 Utah Reporter, 6 January 1870. ••>'• Utah Reporter, 26 April 1870. 98 Salt Lake Herald, 7 April 1877. 19 Corinne Mail, 6 October 1874, 4 June 1875; Corinne Reporter, 14 August 1871 190 Helena Herald, 21 January 1875. 256 Corinne 101 Utah Reporter, 1 February 1870, 20 February 1871; Corinne Reporter, 8 February 1872 ; Corinne Mail, 6 February 1875. 102 Utah Reporter, 18 January, 14 November 1870; Corinne Reporter, 26 April, 8 May 1871 ; Corinne City Minute Book, 25 September 1871; Corinne Journal, 9 May 1871. 103 Margaret Eastman Ferris Letters (1874-84), 20 February 1874, MS file 403, Montana State University Library, Bozeman; Utah Reporter, 11, 12 August; 3 September 1870; Corinne Mail, 13 October 1874; Corinne City Minute Book, 19 February 1872. 104 Ferris Letters, 20 February 1874; Corinne Reporter, 8 July, 16 August 1871; 15 October 1873; Salt Lake Herald, 31 March 1877; Utah Reporter, 9 April 1870; Salt Lake Tribune, 6 September 1875, 22 November 1876; Corinne Mail, 12 July 1875. i°r> Utah Reporter, 27 November 1869; 29 July 1870; Corinne Reporter, 1, 29 March; 22 July 1871; Corinne Mail, 13 July 1875. 106 Corinne Reporter, 30 November 1869, 26 May 1871; Corinne Mail, 5, 6 January 1875; Salt Lake City, 14 December 1876. 107 Corinne Reporter, 26 May 1871, 2 September 1872. ios Salt Lake Herald, 7, 14, 15 April 1874; Utah Mining Gazette, 11, 18 April 1874. 109 Box Elder County Court Records, 8 June 1874, 270, Utah State Archives; Mary Nelson Johnson Felshaw, "Pioneer Personal History," p. 2, Utah State Histori­cal Society. 110 Deseret News, 15 May 1878. 111 Lucius M. Beebe, The Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroads (Berkeley: Howell-North, 1963), pp. 148-53. Culture on the Bear 257 »'• t Ml ¥• •' V t f f t ' f ' /In optimistic view of Corinne, 1875, from an eight-page promotional circular. Courtesy of Western Americana, Marriott Library, University of Utah. 258 Corinne