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Show HISTORICAL NOTES In appreciation and recognition of the many gifts and contributions to the Society and to Utah and Western history generally, the Board of Trustees of the Utah State Historical Society at a recent meeting unanimously awarded an Honorary Life Membership in the Society to Mr. Charles Kelly. An outstanding writer and historian of Utah and the West, Mr. Kelly recently presented to the library of the Society most of his great collection of material on Utah and the Mormons. The significance of this generous gift can well be ascertained when the range of Mr. Kelly's interests is considered. In the collection are manuscripts, including letters and correspondence, journals and diaries, interviews, stories, and articles. There are several hundred books and pamphlets, hundreds of old magazines, newspaper clippings, and his great photograph collection of approximately 2,000 prints with negatives - all identified and labeled. Through the years Mr. Kelly has become an authority on various facets of Western history. He has traveled many hundreds of miles on CHARLES KELLY HISTORICAL NOTES 93 foot and horseback through the areas of which he has written, becoming familiar with the people and the country. His writings and published works encompass such varied subjects as Porter Rockwell and Butch Cassidy, Miles Goodyear, Caleb Greenwood, John D. Lee, and the Powell Expedition, the Colorado River, the Donner party, the Salt Desert trails, the fur trade, the Mountain Meadow massacre, and Utah's parks, monuments, and scenery. A man of intense drive, talent, and intellectual curiosity, he has also contributed work in geology, anthropology, and archeology. Painting the colorful desert country and music have been additional hobbies. He was born February 3, 1889, in Cedar Springs, a lumber camp in Michigan, the son of an itinerant preacher. He learned to set type at the tender age of seven and later became a professional printer. After moving to Salt Lake City in 1919, he went into partnership in the Western Printing Company. In 1941 Mr. Kelly left the printing business, and he and his wife Harriet moved to Fruita, Utah, where he served as superintendent of Capitol Reef National Monument until his retirement in February, 1959. Mrs. Madeline A. Werner, Miss Bessie Auerbach, and Mrs. Selma A. Mohr, sisters of the late Herbert S. Auerbach, president of the Utah State Historical Society from 1936 until his deatii in 1945 and owner of what was probably the greatest private library in the world on Utah, Mormon, and Western history, have presented to the library of the Society a number of manuscripts, maps, letters, and other materials, mostly pertaining to the Escalante expedition, which were prepared and edited by Mr. Auerbach. In addition, there are approximately seventy-five books and pamphlets pertaining to Utah and the Mormons, valued at more than $1,000.00. Mr. Auerbach's library was auctioned off in two great sales - the first in 1947 at the Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York, and the second in London in 1958. An approximate total of nearly $150,000.00 was realized from the sales, and the valuable items on Utah and the Mormons were scattered in libraries and private collections throughout the world. It is with sincere appreciation that the Society announces the gift by Mr. Auerbach's sisters to the Society, with gratification that a part of this fabulous collection has at last "come home." The Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters has designated die Utah State Historical Society as the official archives of the Academy. 94 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Minutes, correspondence, and papers will be deposited with the library, and in time this collection will become one of the most valuable and useful in the state. The Society welcomes this material and the association with this more than fifty-year-old cultural organization, and congratulates the officers for their wise decision. The Society salutes Dale L. Morgan, Utah's native son, currendy on the staff of the Bancroft Library. He has been writing and publishing articles for the Quarterly since 1940. His most recent book, The Overland Diary of James A. Pritchard, from Kentucky to California in 1849 (see Review section this magazine), is said by an authority in the field to be ". . . perhaps the most important contribution ever made to the literature of the Forty-niners since the time when the weary travelers themselves paused at die end of a toilsome day and put their own pens to paper." Mr. Morgan graduated from the University of Utah as an art major, but shortly thereafter became absorbed in history. He was prominent in the Writers' Project and die Historical Records Survey of the WPA, and in addition to several bibliographical studies and numerous articles which have appeared in various scholarly journals, his published works include: The Great Salt La\e (1947), The Humboldt, Highroad of the West (1943), Jedediah Smith and His Maps of the American West (1954, Carl I. Wheat, coauthor), Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West (1953), and his last as mentioned above in 1959. With his capacity for hard work and scrupulous research, Dale is sure to continue his contributions to the world of scholarship in the coming years. One hundred years ago, on April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express rider, with the cheers of well-wishers in his ears, rode from the Pony Express barns at St. Joseph, Missouri, headed for Sacramento. On that same day an east-bound counterpart left Sacramento, and the dream of spanning the forbidding interior of the continent with a speedier means of communication was about to come true. With ominous clouds of civil war on the horizon, the ponies and their riders, by keeping the people in the Far West informed on national issues, played an important part in bolstering loyalty to the Union. To commemorate this auspicious chapter in our nation's history, the National Pony Express Centennial Association and various Pony Express state organizations are furthering appropriate celebrations for this centennial year, 1960. The Pony Express states are: Missouri, Kan- HISTORICAL NOTES 95 sas, Nebraska, Colorado', Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California, and historical research committees in pertinent local areas have searched out sites, trails, routes, landmarks, names of riders, station masters, and others engaged in the enterprise. Civic celebrations featuring historically authentic dramas, songs, speeches, and programs will be sponsored by local groups, and a dramatic rerunning of the Express will take place in April. Awards of Merit for the Mountain States region voted by the Awards Committee of die American Association for State and Local History meeting in convention in Philadelphia, October 7-9, 1959, are as follows: State or provincial historical societies: Idaho Historical Society, Boise, Idaho Director: HOLMAN J. SWINNEY For its dynamic program to develop an interest in the history of Idaho through publications, marking historic sites, and the encouragement of local historical societies. Regional, county, and local historical societies: Clearwater County Historical Society, Orofino, Idaho President: MRS. RUTH PEARCE For its energetic committee program, for maintaining an important collection of local Chinese miners' artifacts, for having the Lewis and Clark canoe camp site preserved as a state park, and for developing a historical program at that site. Outstanding books: Serious history: Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints 1830-1900. By LEONARD J. ARRINGTON Publisher: Harvard University Press. Popular history: Montana an Uncommon Land. By K. Ross TOOLE Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press The First 100 Years (Colorado's Centennial history). By ROBERT L. PERKIN Publisher: Doubleday. Newspapers (daily in cities over 300,000) The Denver Post, PALMER HOYT, editor, and Rocky Mountain News, JACK FOSTER, editor. For unusual special editions for the Colorado Gold Centennial. (daily in communities under 300,000) Las Vegas Review-Journal, DON ASHBAUGH, feature editor. For its series of articles on lesser-known Nevada mining communities. 96 UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Organizations contributing significantly to the understanding and development of local history or historical programs: Radio Station K O R T Grangeville, Idaho For its sustained program on the local history of the community. H. J. Swinney is regional chairman for the Mountain States region which includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and A. R. Mortensen is national chairman of the Awards Committee. The program was instituted to pay tribute to those individuals and organizations promoting a better understanding of our national heritage at a local level. UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES (Terms Expiring April 1, 1961) JUANITA BROOKS, St. George LELAND H. CREER, Salt Lake City NICHOLAS G. MORGAN, SR., Salt Lake City JOEL *,. RICKS, Logan RUSSEL E. SWENSEN, Provo (Ex-Officio Member) LAMONT F. TORONTO, Salt Lake City (Honorary Life Member) LEVI EDGAR YOUNG, Salt Lake City (Terms Expiring April 1, 1963) j . STERLING ANDERSON, Grantsville RICHARD E. GILLIES, Cedar City j . GRANT IVERSON, Salt Lake City MRS. A. C. JENSEN, Sandy L. GLEN SNARR, Salt Lake City OFFICERS 1959-61 LELAND H. CREER, President NICHOLAS G. MORGAN, SR., Vice-President A. R. MORTENSEN, Secretary ADMINISTRATION A. R. MORTENSEN, Director JOHN JAMES, JR., Librarian EVERETT L. COOLEY, Associate Director DOROTHY SUMMERHAYS, Associate Editor ROBERT w. INSCORE, Registrar, Military Records Section EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS: The Society was organized essentially to collect, disseminate and preserve important material pertaining to the history of the state. To effect this end, contributions of manuscripts are solicited, such as old diaries, journals, letters, and other writings of the pioneers; also original manuscripts by present-day writers on any phase of early Utah history. Treasured papers or manuscripts may be printed in faithful detail in the Quarterly, without harm to them, and without permanently removing them from their possessors. Contributions for the consideration of me Publications Committee, and correspondence relating thereto, should be addressed to the Editor, Utah State Historical Society, 603 East South Temple, Salt Lake City 2, Utah. The Editor assumes n o responsibility for die return of unsolicited manuscripts unaccompanied by return postage. The Utah State Historical Society assumes no responsibility for statements made by contributors to this publication. MEMBERSHIP: Membership in the Society is $3.00 per year. The Utah Historical Quarterly is sent free to all members. Non-members and institutions may receive the Quarterly at $3.00 a year or $1.00 for current numbers. Life membership, $50.00. Checks should be made payable to the Utah State Historical Society and mailed to the Editor, 603 East South Temple, Salt Lake City 2, Utah. Can you identify this photo? It is believed to be a Pony Express station somewhere in western Wyoming. The Society welcomes historic photographs which should be preserved. Please be sure they are identified. fi f f i j yi U T A H S T A T E H I S T O R I C A L SOCIET * , mfvm * ' JaBks-fT .' ! 7 '^ Wm7> i v |
