Utah Historical Quarterly Volume XXVI

History and scenery

. . •• • i t „ tiMMMMM cs * "*=•-• " M H j | « ' £ES£ C •.**j*ppp f "^w'' - mii At the intersection of Main and South Temple streets adjacent to Temple Square, Salt Lake City, stands the Brigham Young Monument. The illuminated spires of the Mormon Temple are in the background. Photo Hal Rumel. HISTORY AND SCENERY Utah has a double-barreled attraction to tourists! Its variety and amount of scenery is unsurpassed by any other state in the Union. But of equal importance for the visitor is its history, which is at once unique and typical. The history and the scenery are inextricably bound together. The spectacular sight is usually joined with a dramatic event or series of happenings. How can one separate the beauties of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, its River Jordan, and the great salt sea from the story of the people who conquered and settled the region? The significance of the vast sterile wastes of the salt desert to the west is meaningless without at least a modest understanding of die prehistory of the ancient lake and, much later, man's struggle to conquer the area, including the tragedy of the Donners in 1846. Not until the twentieth century and the building of the railroad and modern highway was the Great Salt Desert a safe place for man to venture. Utah's greatest single attraction, Temple Square, would be just another collection of rather odd buildings were it not for the history of the people to whom it represents the center of their spiritual world. Again, how can one separate the spectacular scenery of the great canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers from the history of their discovery by men like Escalante, the explorations by fur trappers, the exploits of Powell and his men and the other great geo­logical survey parties of the late nineteenth century, the search for gold along their banks, and the feats of the countless river runners who since have followed. To be more specific, how can the visitor appreciate the 298 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY "Hole-in-the-Rock" without a mind's eye picture of the people who struggled through its notch on their way to the San Juan Mission ? The dramatic formations and colors of Bryce really take on meaning when one hears the story of Ebenezer Bryce hunting for his lost cow. Aside from the dramatic scenery that is to be found in every section of the state, there is a unique quality about Utah that is of interest to the visitor, whether he is aware of it or not. The cultural elements of the state, that is, the close-knit Mormon village, its houses, churches and public buildings, the small farms - the very face of the land itself - all bespeak that this is Mormon country with a history and a philosophy that is peculiarly its own. At the same time, Utah is typically the West. Vast distances; high mountains; broad deserts; Indian life, lore and legend; mining, both in the present and in the past; the cowboy and sheepherder; the story of the building of the great Pacific railroad; the Pony Express; the stage­coach and the telegraph - all are part of the stereotype of the West and are here in Utah in great quantity in both fact and fiction. This "Parks and Scenic Wonders" issue of the Quarterly has been put together to demonstrate that history and scenery are truly bound together. The Utah State Historical Society is anxious and willing to co-operate with other state agencies, such as the Tourist and Publicity Council, the State Parks Commission, and others, in the preservation and development of Utah's great natural resources in the form of its beautiful land and glorious past. It is hoped that this special number of the Quarterly is received for what it is - a demonstration of this close relationship between the land and its people, their environment and his­tory. History does not take place in a vacuum. There must be a stage and a setting, and Utah has both in superabundance. A. R. MORTENSEN, Editor