Back when visiting the ‘4 Corners’ was a perilous trip; and other historical tidbits

VISITING the famed Four Corners, the only place where four States of America intersect, today is a convenient trip over paved roads, with ample signage. However, as recent as 1957, such a trip was a rugged and even hazardous adventure.

“Obscure, perilous dirt route trap for intrepid tourists” was a Dec. 22, 1957 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune.

While there was already a cement marker at the spot where the four states meet, traveling there was the problem. The Tribune story stated most maps didn’t even show that there was a road there back then.

“The last eight miles is the worst,” the Tribune story stated. “They consist of a dirt-on-top-of-boulder stretch with rugged stones as big as 10-gallon hats to punctuate the ride.”

The story also stated the road is narrow and a bumpy washboard for vehicles. Also, the only sign along the road is eight miles away that stated, “Four Corners—Eight miles.”

The Tribune reported that the road was so bad that vehicles could easily get bogged down or lost.

The story ended by proclaiming that a gross lack of signage and a proper road is why most residents of the Four Corner states have never been to the historic marker.

       Being in 4 states at once is what many youth seek at the Four Corners Monument.

Just less than five years later, the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Sept. 17, 1962 stated that a new highway to the Four Corners was open and that a new monument there had been dedicated. The Governors of the four states even attended the dedication ceremony.

Notwithstanding, that didn’t solve all visitation problems to the Four Corners.

“At Four Corners. Needed: Visitor Center, Park” was a July 6, 1972 the title of an editorial in the Provo Daily Herald.

“Four Corners ‘Incredible Disgrace’ – Lawmakers” was a May 19, 1982 headline in the Herald, a decade later. At that time, there was no water, toilets or cleanliness at the geographical site.

The situation eventually improved at Four Corners and although it still remains in a remote area today, there is plenty of signage and reasonable facilities for visitors.

Other historical tidbits:

                Ensign Peak from the south.                                   Photograph by Ray Boren.

-Ensign Peak, located north of downtown Salt Lake City was the first mountain peak that the pioneers climbed. It also has a lengthy legacy. For example, in a speech on July 26, 1919, Richard W. Young, President of Ensign Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints referred to the peak as a symbol of patriotism.

                                            The Monument on Ensign Peak today.

In a July 27 Salt Lake Tribune article that year, Young said, “This peak has stood for years as proof of the patriotism of the people of Utah. For the last fifty years people have looked at this peak as an altar of patriotism.”

-“Wolf Creek” in Ogden Valley is more than the name of a development below Powder Mountain. Its name comes from nearby Wolf Creek Canyon. And that physical feature’s title is indeed based on the former wolves in the area.

In the early years of settlers, there was a large wolf pack and it killed many sheep and cattle. According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Nov. 21, 1954, they were gradually killed off, all except one. This older wolf rarely came within shooting range and was elusive for a long time.

Then, John W. Grow and a friend were traveling up the canyon in a bobsled and noticed the wolf stalking them from a long distance behind. Grow slipped behind an abandoned cabin and when the wolf came within range, shot and killed the last of its kind in the Valley.

-Chinatown is a slice of red rock, reminiscent of Southern Utah, but located northeast of Devil’s Slide, above Weber Canyon. The first road to the local attraction was built in 1931 by the Lions Club of Ogden, in cooperation with the Morgan County Commissioners and local landowners. The Standard-Examiner of Nov. 3, 1931 reported this work.

Chinatown had already gained some attention, because of the Lincoln Highway improvements made in Weber Canyon. The Garland Times newspaper in Tremonton referred to Chinatown as “a fascinating curiosity shop of Mother Nature, covering about 20 square miles. It has been called a miniature Bryce, with its shades of pink, red, yellow, purple, gray, brown and white rock.”

Japanese Teapot, Big Elephant, Alligator Rock, Twin Elephants, 11 Apostles, Seal rock, Yellow Dike and Red Ridge were just some of the original names of Chinatown formations.

However, because of eventual problems with unruly visitors -- a lack of respect for landowners and their stock. Plus access costs -- the Standard-Examiner of Aug. 12, 1956 featured one of the last promotional stories on Chinatown, written by Arlene Irwin.

“Pagodas, totem poles and pillars. No exotic food in Chinatown but plenty of colorful cliffs” was the headline of that story. Back then in the mid-1950s, Chinatown was still accessible to the public and jeeps, horses and hikers were the common modes of transportation there.

“Civic clubs a generation ago tried to get public support for an automobile road which would reach Chinatown Canyon, but cost and other difficulties kept the drive from bearing fruit,” the Standard story stated.