Ruby's Inn: An Area Destination since 1916 -- even before Bryce Canyon

Taylor Arave at the historic Ruby's Inn, which even predates the nearby Bryce Canyon National Park.

                                 Bryce Canyon National Park.

      Ruby's Inn in the 1930s, as represented in a painting, hanging in today's Ruby's Inn.

By Lynn Arave

Ruby's Inn, a commercial establishment, located just north of the entrance to Bryce Canyon, has been around since 1916 and even predates nearby Bryce Canyon National Monument by seven years.

By the time Bryce Canyon was a National Monument in 1923 (or National Park in 1928), Ruby's Inn was already well established and serving as a focal point for the area.

        The Ruby's dining room from decades past. --From a photo hanging at Ruby's Inn.

Given its legacy, the first newspaper mention of Ruby's was NOT for anything relating to Bryce Canyon, but for an area Halloween party on Oct. 31, 1924. The Garfield County News on Nov. 7, 1924 stated that the event was a big success.
The Garfield County News of Jan. 16, 1925 described Ruby's as a "homelike headquarters for the weary traveler" and a "wonderful resort."
In that era, Ruby's not only had plenty of water for visitors, but also cabins, food and even a dancing hall. It was also in 1925 when the resort received its first electric lighting system.
By the spring of 1925, Ruby's had a U.S. Post Office, a monster porch for relaxation, supplies, campground and even access to horses and guides to explore the area.
In July of 1925, the Panquitch Orchestra even played at Ruby's Inn and attracted a large crowd.
It was Ruby Syrett and his wife who started Ruby's. and their descendants still operate the business.
Ruby's Inn was the most popular destination in the area, though as the decades went by, the place became more and more synonymous with Bryce Canyon National Park.
 Indeed, you HAD to travel past Ruby's Inn to enter Bryce Canyon and that's how it remains today. 
Yes, Bryce Canyon does have its own inside-the-park accommodations available, but Ruby's was there first and is literally just a few hundred yards north of the Bryce Canyon entrance.
Today Ruby's has expanded to have an RV Park, a seasonal rodeo, ATV rentals and more. In the summer, its work staff expands top some 600 employees, the largest in the county.

                                 A picture from the 1984 fire.


A tragic fire in 1984 destroyed the lodge and erased some of the Ruby's Inn history, but it was rebuilt and even expanded after that.

                             The rubble after the fire,

-As a kid growing up in the 1960s, my Bryce Canyon visit memories include images of Ruby's Inn, as the two seemed linked. Decades later, when I took my own children to Bryce, was complete without a stop at Ruby's.

 Ruby's Inn, as it appeared in the 1980s, probably just before the fire.   --From a photo hanging today inside Ruby's Inn.



    

A 19th Century Look at the Oquirrh Mountains

              The north end of the Oquirrh Mountains, as they appear from West Valley City.


By Lynn Arave

OFTEN forgotten mountains in Northern Utah are the Oquirrh Range. Rising to just over 9,000 feet, these mountains are the home to Kennecott Copper's huge open pit mine, to a variety of FM radio and TV transmitters and plenty of wildlife. These mountains are also often a "rain shadow" in meteorological terms to the Salt Lake Valley, tempering its total precipitation received.
But where did the Oquirrh name come from?
The first newspaper mention of the Oquirrh Mountains was in the March 2, 1864 issue of the Deseret News. That report stated Oquirrh was "the Indian name of the range on the west side of the G.S.L. Valley." It also proclaimed recent mining for lead and silver in those mountains.
The Salt Lake Herald Newspaper of Nov. 19, 1874 noted that the Utah Western Railroad had named one of its locomotives "Oquirrh."
The Salt Lake Tribune of May 28, 1878 stated that there was a local group, named the Oquirrh Club, so the Native American name became a fixture, through it was not nearly as popular as "Deseret."
The Salt Lake Herald on May 28, 1879 reported the exploration of several caves at the north end of the Oquirrh range. The larger of the two caves even had pioneer names carved into its interior walls, dating back to 1862. The larger cave, called "Giant's Cave," boasted a 10-foot-square opening and was almost 200 feet deep. The smaller, unnamed cave was only about 50 feet long.
The Salt Lake Telegram of Dec. 27, 1948 published a reader's research on the name Oquirrh. It did not dispute that the common held belief of that word meaning "Shining Mountains," but stated that Native Americans also had several alternate meanings to that word -- "Grassy Hills," "Yellow Mountains" and even "Black Mountains." 

Sitting at the north end of the Oquirrh Mountains is Kennecott's Garfield Smokestack, which rises 1,215 feet, or just 35 feet lower than the main frame of the Empire State Building. Although this stack is the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi, it is dwarfed by the nearby height of the Oquirrh Mountains, which rise more than 3,500 feet above it.