When the Zion Tunnel was proposed as a separate National Monument; Plus, more historical tidbits

THE Zion Mt. Carmel Canyon Tunnel was an engineering marvel for its age and was the longest non-urban tunnel in the nation when it opened at 1.1 miles.

In fact, the tunnel was proposed to be its own separate national monument. According to the Salt Lake Telegram of Dec. 30, 1929, Utah Governor George H. Dern suggested the tunnel have national monument status, though the official designation never occurred.

Governor Dern also wanted the road around and through the tunnel also renamed the Stephen T. Mather Highway, in honor of the former director of the nation’s national parks. That name designation also didn’t happen.

Although some listings on the Web put the tunnel’s construction cost as low as $503,000, that was only the cost of tunnel itself and not including the connecting roadways. The Telegram of July 4, 1930 stated the total cost of the tunnel project was $1.5 million (or more than 22.5 million in today’s dollar values).

According to the Iron County Record newspaper of Oct. 26, 1929, survey crews spent two years climbing the mountain and evaluating the best tunnel route.

When the tunnel opened on July 4, 1930, it shortened the distance from Zion to Bryce National Park by some 62 miles, from 149 miles to 88 miles. It also gave the area a better year-round route, from east to west.

At least three workers were injured during the tunnel’s construction. The Telegram of Nov. 8, 1928 reported that a premature dynamite explosion seriously injured one worker. The Washington County News of Jan. 1, 1928 stated that minor injuries happened when one worker was struck by an ice block and when another man fell 10 feet off a ledge.

-The Ogden Standard Examiner of July 21, 1927 stated that the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway and tunnel were also part of a sweeping plan to secure national park land and enhance access to them.

“Utah gives up its Bryce land,” was the Standard headline. Utah gave up ownership to 20 acres it owned at Bryce and the Union Pacific Railroad also deeded over its land holdings there, to help create Bryce as a national park.

The story also stated the Utah Governor Dern said that a Bryce name change was highly objectionable, given the current title’s fixation. Some wanted the Bryce renamed Utah National Park, because technically the area is not a canyon.

MORE HISTORY:

-How much does Mount Timpanogos weigh? “B.Y.U. graduate student fixes weight of Timpanogos at sixty billion tons” was a June 25, 1935 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram.

            Bighorn sheep just below Timpanogos Peak.                               Photo by Ray Boren

Harrison J. Merrill made the calculation as part of his thesis for a master’s degree at the school. Merrill used two pendulums, the law of gravitation and numerous mathematical formulas to make his approximation of the mountain’s total weight. BYU physics and mathematics professors all agreed with his findings.

-Mount Timpanogos was often climbed from the east side by thousands of hikers. However, it wasn’t until 1910 that the mountain was first climbed from the southwest. The Salt Lake Tribune of Aug. 7, 1910 stated that the husband-wife team of C.F. Knott and E.B. Yoams of Salt Lake City were the first climbers from the direction in the summer of 1910.

-“Coed falls 360 feet, lives” was a May 9, 1919 headline in the Salt Lake Herald Republican newspaper. Franc Jennings, a student at the University of Utah, “crashed over an ice-capped precipice in Dry Canyon, narrowly missed being dashed to death by trees at the bottom, but suffered only minor bruises,” the newspaper stated.

The story, written by Uarda McCarty, also said that Jennings was on Black Mountain when the accident occurred. A crest of snow caved in and she tumbled down into Dry Canyon. She was rendered unconscious by the fall and lay at the bottom of the canyon for 30 minutes before her companions could reach her. An eventual X-ray exam was suggested for her legs to ensure no bones were broken.