The Great Salt Lake Temple Photograph Robbery/Ransom Tale of 1911

  

 

                           The Deseret Evening News headline from September 16, 1911.

     THE iconic Salt Lake Temple was wildly in the news for photographs, not of its gothic looking exterior, but for surreptitiously obtained interior pictures, back in September of 1911, just over 18 years after the Temple was dedicated.

  What unfolded was a tale of lies, deceit and blackmail against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

  Here’s a summary of what took place:

  Gilbert L. Bossard, a German convert to the Church, was living in Salt Lake City. He excelled at photography. In an interview, Bossard said that he spent the better part of an entire year sneaking into the Salt Lake Temple with a camera and taking a total of 68 inside photographs.

  He said he often hid a camera under his coat. He may have also convinced an assistant gardener on the Temple grounds (according to the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper of Sept. 18, 1911) to help him gain access to the interior of the Salt Lake Temple, at times. There is even a tale that he may have entered into the Temple’s interior through a large heating vent.

  In any event, he had the photographs to prove that he somehow took them, even though in one interview, he said it was usually that he was only able to take one interior photo with each visit to the Temple.

  Other than the 600 VIPs who got to tour the inside of the Salt Lake Temple, before it was dedicated, in 1893, there were no other public tours of its interior, Hence, there was a lot of curiosity about inside, where only members with a Temple Recommend could go.

   Bossard took his photographs and sold them to Max Florence, a motion picture businessman, who was formerly of Salt Lake City and since moved to New York City.

  It was no secret that Florence was in financial trouble.

  “Max Florence on financial rocks?” was a November 11, 1910 headline in the Deseret News, outlining his financial debts.

  So, he wanted to blackmail the Church into giving him money to not release the pictures publicly. In one interview, he mentioned a $100,000 sum of ransom, but then said that was not the amount.

  “Max Florence fails to scare the Church” was a September 16, 1911 headline in the Deseret Evening News.

                             President Joseph F. Smith                            From Wikipedia Commons.

  Church President Joseph F. Smith said, “I will make no bargain with thieves or traffickers in stolen goods. I prefer to let the law deal with them.”

  President Smith also stressed that the inside of the Temple was sacred, not secret.

                                  The Deseret Evening News from September 18, 1911.

    (Note that until the later 20^th Century, public tours of undedicated temples were rarely given and so to outsiders, the Latter-day Saints’ Temples were somewhat “mysterious.”)

  Florence seemed to also want to discredit the Church and even boasted that he could steal the Angel Moroni statue, if the Church made him any madder. He also said he knows the Salt Lake Temple as well as its architect (Florence was not a member of the Church and he also seem to brag as if he took the pictures, when they were taken by Bossard).

 

                             Elder James E. Talmage.                                From Wikipedia Commons.

  Elder James E. Talmage made a suggestion to the First Presidency in September of 1911, that he could write and compile a new book, “The House of the Lord,” that could include high-quality interior photographs of the Salt Lake Temple, taken by their own photographer, thus stealing Florence’s thunder, as well as handling the pictures in a complimentary and explanatory way, instead of for revenge and ransom.

   It was a bold, but clever move. That book was published a year later and contained 31 interior temple pictures. (Elder Talmage was made an Apostle in December of 1911.)

 Note that back in 1911, there was no quick way to release photographs to the public, as there is today, so a printed book was considered the optimal and widespread method.

   The Salt Lake Tribune reported on October 4, 1911, that Bossard, who took the unauthorized interior Salt Lake Temple photographs, was excommunicated. Years later, living on the East Coast, Bossard tried to regain his Church membership, but Church leaders said he failed to recognize how badly he had discredited the Church and its flagship temple.

  -Perhaps a long-lasting after effect to this incident was a phobia, a fear, among Church leaders, that the Holy Edifice could be invaded again. Security at the temple was probably reviewed and improved after the incident, And, as such, the Salt Lake Temple also had an iron fence around it and only members with recommends could get close to the Temple, or touch it. (No other temple seemed to have a similar barrier.) That didn’t change until about 2001, when the Church prepared to welcome the world for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Then, the wall came down and there was more open access to the Temple Square grounds around the Salt Lake Temple itself.

  -In addition, to this writer’s advantage, when he prepared to write/compile a new book, “Images of America Salt Lake Temple,” he was surprised at how many great interior photographs of the Salt Lake Temple from the early 20^th Century were available. Even though he knew of the “stolen photographs” story, it was a long time before he connected the dots and realized that without that ransom incident, such a book would likely not be possible, because of not nearly enough official inside pictures of the Salt Lake Temple being otherwise available, to support such a vintage picture book. (This new book will be available in April of 2027, through Arcadia Publishing.)

-If you would like a more detailed (and scholarly) examination of the Salt Lake Temple stolen photographs incident, “I’m Here for the Cash”: Max Florence and the Great Mormon Temple,” By Gary James Bergera, was published in the Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 47, Number 1, 1979.

A link to that lengthy article:

https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume47_1979_number1/56?e=65&o=1

 

 

 

A Second visit to "China Town" -- A slice of Bryce Canyon in Morgan County

 

    IT is simply a unique, yet colorful slice of Southern Utah's famed red rock in Northern Utah.

  “China Town” (two words on Google maps and USGS maps) is a natural feature, about 10 miles northeast of Henefer, or 16 miles northeast of Morgan, in Morgan County.

 

    At an elevation of 8,000 feet above sea level, China Town is barely a few hundred yards from the Morgan and Summit county line. There are no paved roads or public access here – it is an isolated, rugged formation that is about 5.5 miles as the bird flies, from the Lost Creek paved road (but a 10-mile ATV ride).

  Strictly speaking dictionary-wise, “China Town” is any non-Chinese area that is dominated by residents of Chinese origin. However, there are no residents of any race anywhere near here.

 

           One of the many strange formations in Canyons in the Lost Creek/China Town area.

   China Town received its name because its formations reminded pioneer visitors of Chinese pagodas - pyramidal towers several stories high. Some other formations are shaped more like Native American totem poles. (It’s 2-word name is probably an attempt to distinguish it from the many city neighborhoods using one-word title.)

  The Richfield Reaper newspaper of June 19, 1930 called China Town, “a fascinating curiosity shop of mother nature,” in perhaps the first known reference in print to the curiosity. It stated some of the rock formations in its deep amphitheater were named: Japanese Teapot, Alligator Rock, 11 Apostles, Sea Rock, Yellow Dike, Twin Elephants, Big Elephant and Newfoundland Dog.

   Red Ridge and Totem Pole were two other formations in nearby Toone Canyon.

 

    China Town contains “strange rock formations and colors of much scenic value,” according to an October 13, 1931 report in Ogden Standard-Examiner. That article was headlined, “Scenic route fund desired.”

  O.A. Taylor of Brigham City had interest in a coal mine in that area, but also believed China Town was a desirable tourist attraction. His plan never materialized.

 Some six months later, a Standard-Examiner story from February 2, 1932 stated that both the Morgan and the Ogden Lions clubs supported a scenic highway to China Town through Toone Canyon, off Lost Creek Road.

Ogden Mayor Ora Bundy said in that story that China Town rivaled the scenery of Southern Utah. He also favored a loop road, so that Ogden Valley could be reached from the Morgan County side.

A June 14, 1936 article in the Salt Lake Tribune referred to China Town as a “geological wonder.” It stated that “Hidden Towers” had been an early nickname for the area.

“About 12 miles northeast of Devil’s Slide is a natural curiosity known as ‘Chin Town.’ It is a miniature Bryce Canyon with many shades of rock …” a January 30, 1938 report in the Standard-Examiner stated.

  In fact, a public contest by the Standard-Examiner in 1939 to identify the best locations for tourist development in northern Utah named China Town as the top choice.

Then, World War II started and China Town then faded into obscurity for 18 years until the Morgan County News of April 18, 1947 described the natural feature as  “… A fascinating curiosity shop of mother nature, covering 3/4ths of a mile. It has been called a miniature Bryce (Canyon) with shades of pink, yellow, red, purple, gray brown and white rock…”

  The Deseret News of October 30, 1949 stated” Beyond China Town is Totem Pole Park, where nature has played a little trick by carving huge monuments, with rounded grotesque shapes…”

  Next, an editorial in the Nov. 19, 1965 Standard heralded it again:

“The eroded cliffs of Morgan’s ‘China Town’ closely resemble the famed earthen spires and pinnacles of Bryce Canyon National Park,” the editorial stated. It urged a three-man committee in Morgan to find a way to open it to the public.

  “Weird erosion” is how a headline is how a travel ad by Morgana County in the January 2, 1965 Salt Lake Times newspaper described China Town.

  According to Fred Ulrich, the Morgan High School LDS Seminary used to sponsor an annual spring hike to China Town, at least into the late 1940s. Even into the early 1960s, many Morgan area youth groups seasonally visited China Town.

  The small town of Croydon highlighted China Town's scenic value and encouraged visitors there as recently as the early 1960s.

  The author was lucky enough to secure permission to visit China Town the first time, back in 1990. Then, it required some eight miles of mountain bicycling and about two hiking miles with a 2,500-foot climb to access China Town, located near the Morgan-Summit County line.

  Passage was through many locked gates and private tracts of land to reach the 13-acre site.

 

      China Town landowner Mike Schultz, left, with Karen Hugie and author Lynn Arave, in front of China Town, on May 16, 2026. It sits at an elevation of 8,000-feet.

 

  The author’s second visit was on May 16, 2026, as he was fortunate enough to be invited to visit China Town with landowner Mike Schultz leading a specially invited 10 ATVs into the remote area, that required a 10-mile ride.

  The general area has a background of quaking aspens and evergreens. There are still mountain lions in the area too, but not as many as in decades past. The area is a summer range for cattle.

There is also a lot of conglomerate rock in the area. On route to China Town were too many separate sections to count of unusual rock formations in almost every side canyon. There were even some petroglyphs.

                            Some petroglyphs in the canyons east of Lost Creek.

   During a half-day visit to the area, it seemed like every canyon had unique looking, weathered rocks of all shapes and sizes.

  The surrounding area is pristine forest and also rich in colorful place names, such as: Wolf Den Canyon, Guildersleeve Canyon, Hell Canyon, Paradise Canyon and Red Cedar Canyon.

  On the one hand, it may seem sad that the general public cannot visit the China Town area, but much of its beauty, serenity and attraction is that it is so remote and rarely visited.

  If the area were ever to be made public, it would lose much of its appeal and would be more likely an overcrowded natural feature, like Bryce Canyon National Park.

                    ATVs en route to China Town. The area is a summer pasture for cattle.

 

Salt Lake City -- The World's biggest oddity in Settlements?

The original "This is the Place" monument, with the larger, modern monument in the distance. Both are near the mouth of Emigration Canyon, where the Mormon Pioneers entered the S.L. Valley, in 1847.

MOST cities in the United States (and the world) were settled in desirable locations. These places had abundant water, good soil, nearby trade routes, perhaps area mineral mines, etc.

A lone exception – Salt Lake City.

Mormon Pioneers in 1847 sought out the Great Salt Lake Valley specifically because it was basically, an undesirable and rather inhospitable place.

 The valley wasn’t totally barren, but trees were mostly along the banks of small streams and the Oregon trail was to the far north in what would become Idaho and the Santa Fe trail was far, far southward.

In other words, they sought isolation and no competition from outside sources, having been chased out of Illinois.

Even the Native Americans in Utah territory didn’t settle in substantial numbers in the Great Salt Lake Valley. Most were Utah Lake or southward, or in today’s Brigham City and northward. West of the salty Great Salt Lake very vast salt-laden flats and desert. To the east were the rugged Wasatch Mountains.

   But the Mormon Pioneers created irrigation systems and made the valley “blossom as a rose.” The rest is history.

 

                   A modern view of the Salt Lake Valley, from near Emigration Canyon, looking west.

 

 

A Brief History of the Freeport Center, originally The U.S. Naval Supply Depot

 

         A morning train coming off the Union Pacific mainline heads west into the Freeport Center.

THE Freeport Center was originally a vast U.S. Navy supply depot, commissioned April 10, 1943, to replace large tomato fields and pastures.

A largely untold story is that some homes on the site had to be relocated. Harris Adams, a longtime Layton resident and historian said his parent’s home was lifted up and moved to Layton, as they had no choice but to accept the government’s purchase offer. The family received fair market value for their farm.

This southeast Clearfield location was chosen because it was inland and more safe from any enemy attacks, a big concern in World War II. It was also near Hill Air Force Base and had excellent highway and railroad access. Trucks could move any product from the West Coast to the then U.S. Naval Depot within two days.

Construction took almost 11 months and $25.5 million in 1942-43. Buildings were built in a uniform size and design on a grid pattern. In fact, most buildings have railroad access on one side and truck delivery access on the other side.

 At one time it was the largest supply depot in the world.

The Navy Supply Depot closed in 1962. But it wasn’t idle for very long, when it became privatized.

In 1963, the Freeport and its 6 million square feet were sold to private industry. Freeport Center Associates, purchased the center in 1972. 

The Freeport suffered a recession from 1980 to 1983 when it lost a lot of distribution companies that have since been replaced by manufacturers.

Today the Freeport Center has its own post office and is home to about 70 companies and employs a workforce of about 7,000.

The "Ogden" Hot Springs that were actually in Pleasant View

THE Utah Hot Springs (also originally called Ogden Hot Springs) was actually in Pleasant View and closed in about 1970, after more than 80 years of operation.

 Native Americans had used the hot springs, probably for hundreds of years before the pioneers, in the late 1840s, came to the area.

  The 180-acre resort began in the late 1884, founded by Rason H. Slater, a “horse doctor,” who lived in Salt Lake City. He paid the U.S. Government $400 for the title to the hot springs. His motto for the resort was “The greatest cure of the West,” as he believed its hot mineral waters offered cures for pain and even disease.  (Some people called the hot spring water, “medicated fluid.” The spring waters were naturally heated to as much as 130 degrees.

  Slater also secured endorsements on the water’s health benefits from several Ogden area doctors.

  Located about 8 miles northwest of Ogden, the resort had railroad service in 1892 by the Oregon Short Line and Ogden Rapid Transit Railways, for 30 cents a trip, usually about 30 minutes long. However, at unpredictable times, herds of sheep in the area would delay trains for long periods of time.

  A fire in the early 1900s completely destroyed the original resort, but it was quickly rebuilt. On September 12, 1914, it suffered a transformer fire too.

  The resort changed ownership several times in the late 1920s, selling for $30,000 the first time and $40,000 the second time.

 

                  Old story in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on the resort's history.

By the 1930s, the resort scaled back in acreage, but offered a 40-room hotel, café, dance hall and saloon, with beer 5 cents a glass – besides the hot springs experience. Gambling for nearby horse races also centered around the resort.

  There were even bicycle races staged from downtown Ogden City to the Hot Springs, in the 1920s and 1930s. The hot springs attracted bathers from not just Utah, but Idaho and Nevada too.

  Ironically, few residents of Pleasant View or North Ogden visited the resort during its first 50 years, perhaps because of its gambling and saloon. It was outsiders who kept the resort in business.

 By the 1950s, the resort boasted both and indoor and outdoor swimming pool and the latter featured a tall slippery slide. In that later era, the resort was more of a swimming resort, than a hot springs and patrons came by automobile.

  What seemed to doom the resort were efforts by government officials to want to chlorinate the mineral waters. That liability, plus a downturn in the public wanting to use such hot pools, eventually caused the hot springs to permanently close.

                         Some of today's greenhouses on the old hot springs property.

   Soon after, the hot springs were used to heat greenhouses year-round. By the late 1990s, there were 40 or more greenhouses on the property. (However, the mineral water is so salty, that plastic pipe is used in the greenhouses, instead of metal.)

   A railroad line is still operated on the east side of the old hot springs and some of the heated waters sometimes overrun in the spring, near those tracks.

  Note that some newspaper reports of old confused this hot spring with the hot springs near the mouth of Ogden Canyon (today owned by Rainbow Gardens). Ironically, Rainbow Gardens also operated indoor and outdoor swimming pools and they closed permanently within a few years of those at the Utah Hot Springs.

 

Hot spring water sometimes overflows by the railroad tracks on the old hot springs property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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"Club Foot" -- One of the first Grizzly Bear sheep killers to be shot in Northern Utah -- and before Old Ephraim

                                                                  A stuffed bear in a Utah store.
 

OLD Ephraim was NOT the first, or the only legendary grizzly Bear to stalk the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah. 

One of the first, was “Club Foot,” who was killed in 1910, more than a decade ahead of Old Ephraim – and this grizzly was not in Cache County (like Old Eph), but rather in Davis County.

 “’Club Foot’ will kill no more sheep,” was an August 23, 1910 headline in the Salt Lake Herald Republican newspaper. Charles Jacobs, a bear hunter and a sheep herder, had his flocks about 12 miles south of Ogden, in the Davis County portion of the Wasatch Mountains.

He finally shot and killed the large grizzly, who had murdered countless sheep, starting in 1905. Jacobs encountered the grizzly at close range in Bair Canyon, just east of Fruit Heights/Kaysville and shot him, felling the bruin, who landed at Jacob’s feet.

Bair Canyon, looking down, westward from the top.

Ogden's Hinckley Airport isn't the Area's Original Airport

 

An aerial view of the Ogden Airport in 2006.             Photo from Wikipedia Commons   

MOST people would believe that the current Ogden Airport, in Roy/Riverdale is the area’s original airport.

But that is not the case. There was an earlier airport, located approximately where today’s Ogden Regional Hospital is.

Ogden dedicated that original airport on July 1, 1928.

“Ogden is entertaining one of the largest crowds of visitors in its history,” the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper reported on Jul 1, 1928. “The occasion is celebrating marking the dedication of the municipal airport. Streets were lined this morning by throngs viewing the parade in which the history of transportation was depicted.”

  This original airport had three runways, all gravel, but was located on a hillside above Ogden City, and near Weber Canyon, where winds kept fog away most of the time.

But within a decade, the airport location was not deemed large enough for the future and plans were made for a new airport. Ther War Department (today’s Department of Defense) approved $795,000 for a new Ogden airport in the fall of 1940. This airport was to be located in what was then known as the Fairmont District and Ogden City already had secured half of the 655 acres needed, according to the Salt Lake Telegram of October 23, 1940.

  The original airport also suffered a significant fire on October 26, 1941, that damaged several shops and two airplanes. Notwithstanding, the Army Air Force sometimes utilized the gravel runways during part of World War II.

The new airport was dedicated on October 3, 1943 and featured a concert by the Union Pacific Band and a Hill Field Band, the Telegram of October 2, 1943 stated.

Today the airport is a regional airport, named the Ogden-Hinckley Airport, in honor of Robert H. Hinckley, a man who helped train thousands of pilots during World War II and who helped develop aviation infrastructure across the nation. He was also a member of the Civil Aeronautics Authority.

 

                                  Robert H. Hinckley,  photo from Wikipedia Commons