When a possible ski resort was studied in Davis County; Plus, Davis County ‘Avengers’ and more history

                 Bountiful Peak is just south of this upper area in Farmington Canyon.

WHY doesn’t Davis County have any ski resorts?

According to the Davis County Clipper of June 13, 1958, a study was done that year in the Bountiful Peak area (just south of Farmington Canyon) to determine the feasibility of ski runs being constructed there.

Alf Engren, best known for his ski school at Alta Ski Resort and his pioneering of powder skiing, studied the Wasatch Mountains in Davis County for possible ski runs.

“Mr. Engen Was particularly impressed with one spot southeast of Bountiful Peak,” the Clipper stated, indicating that it had more promise than Brighton Ski Resort did. However, the next step was studying aerial photos, along with the feasibility of the Farmington Canyon road being open year-round.

Aerial pictures apparently showed the terrain to be not as suitable as initially thought. Also, the construction of a radar station on Francis Peak to the north compounded year-round travel safety for the area. The Weekly Reflex newspaper of Oct. 6, 1960 stated that the Bountiful Peak was still “being checked out for a ski haven.” That was the last word on a Davis  ski resort. 
The Davis News Journal of May 19, 1959 explained that Davis County had a recreation committee studying the possibility of the winter recreation, located south and east of Bountiful Peak. It even chose an official name, "Big Sky," as the title for the recreation area.

In the end, no ski resort or recreation area ever materialized.

                    A steep area of Farmington Canyon, north of and below Bountiful Peak.

-However, the Clipper of March 10, 1978, reported on a federal proposal to declare the Bountiful Peak area a wilderness area. That never happened either (but at least you can access the area seasonally by the dirt road that goes up Farmington Canyon and heads south along the mountain top to the “B” on the mountainside in Bountiful).

MORE HISTORY:

-The Davis County Clipper of Jun 12, 1942 carried an eye-catching headline in today’s world – “Davis County men join Avengers.” Of course, it wasn’t the Marvel Comics’ Avengers, but it was a World War II unit, the Utah Avengers’ Naval Unit. The men, Harry B. Blanchard and Ernest Lehnhof, were known as “Utah Avengers” and were among 12,235 men at the time who had taken the oath of naval service.

-Just over four decades ago, there was a wild balloon ride in Davis and Morgan counties. "Balloon crew launched from Lagoon; Ends with an unforeseen ride,” was the headline in the May 26, 1978 Clipper. A story, written by Roselyn Kirk chronicled how three people went on a hot air balloon ride and unexpectedly got carried over the crest of the Wasatch Mountains, just south of Francis Peak.

The 250-pound gondola was at the mercy of the winds or lack thereof and the riders were not prepared for the approximate 9,700-foot elevation they reached.

After a chilly ride, they finally landed on a sod farm field in Morgan County, where an ambulance and sheriff’s deputies were waiting. Everyone was safe. A helicopter had been called in from Hill AFB, but the balloon had landed by that time.

-What was perhaps the first mention of bowling in a Utah newspaper? The Salt Lake Tribune of Dec. 18, 1871 carried the small advertisement for the Pioneer Bowling Alley in Salt Lake, where a game cost 25 cents.

-Delicate Arch in Arches National Park has become a Utah icon and is internationally known now. Yet, when did the name first appear in a newspaper?

The Times Independent Newspaper of Moab on Jan. 1, 1934 published a story titled, “The Scenic Appeal of Arches National Monument,” by Frank Beckwith, an archaeologist.

The story could very well be where the Delicate Arch name originated from.

“A beautiful, Delicate Arch. About a mile east of Wolf Cabin Ranch is a pretty arch of pillars delicately carved uprising at once vertically for nearly sixty feet, then arching over to form the complete arch,” the story stated. “This is by far the most delicately chiseled arch in the entire area.

Beckwith later in the story referred to Delicate Arch as “Bloomers Arch” (and “School Marm’s Bloomers” and “Cowboy Chaps” were among some the Arch’s other early titles).

The archaeologist also reported having noticed there were several hundred pounds of ancient dinosaur bones on display, near Wolf’s Cabin.

                                     Wolf's Cabin.

(This story was originally published on November 18, 2020 in the Deseret News.)

Where the 'Delicate Arch' Name originated from; Plus, the Arch's Trail History

By Lynn Arave

WE take the Delicate Arch name for granted today. This is no ordinary arch. It has not only become the symbol for Arches National Park (home to more than 2,000 stone arches), but also for the entire State of Utah at times.
The FIRST time the name Delicate Arch was used is likely in the Times Independent newspaper on January 8, 1934. The author was Frank Beckwith, an archaeologist with Arches National Monument.
He stated, "This is by far the most delicately chiseled arch in the entire area."
It was the local Times newspaper that subheaded the section for this statement with, "A beautiful Delicate Arch."
Likely, from there the name blossomed and was soon the official title of the natural feature.
Previously, this park icon was originally called "The Chaps" by area cowboys. "Bloomer's" was another nickname for the feature as well.
-The trail to Delicate Arch also used to be an ordeal, requiring the use of ladders. It wasn't until the spring of 1953 that the trail was reworked to its present configuration.
This new trail followed a seam in the rocks.
A Times Independent newspaper report from May 25, 1950 explained that it took some local Girl Scouts half a day to reach Delicate Arch. On returning to Wolf Ranch, the girls were tired and sunburned.

Before Arches National Park -- A Vast Cattle Domain

                              The Wolf Cabin in Arches National Park.

By Lynn Arave

LONG before Arches National Park came along, this area north of Moab, Utah was a huge cattle ranching area. Early settlers were simply not impressed with scenery when they had to make a living in harsh desert territory.
The Wolf Ranch, just west of Delicate Arch and near the trailhead to the famous arch, was the most famous of these cattle ranches.
This ranch came along in 1898 and was about 150 acres in size, operated by Civil War Veteran John Wesley Wolf.
According to the Times Independent Newspaper of Aug. 3, 1967, a flood in the Salt Wash of Arches in 1906 washed Wolf's first cabin away and he had to build another away from the main drainage.
After Wolf sold out and left, sheep were grazed in the area. Also, horses ran free in the area.

                            The desolate Salt River Wash area.

It wasn't until 1936 when the Arches area was seen by more than cowboys and ranchers. That's because horseback or a jolting wagon ride were the only ways to access the area before that.
Dr. J.W. Williams and other Moab residents were credited with the first automobile ride into Arches in 1936 -- and they only reached the Balanced Rock and Windows area.

When Arches National (Monument) Park was chained shut

By Lynn Arave

"Vandalism in Arches forces action" was a May 3, 1962 headline in the Moab Times Independent Newspaper.
"A two-month siege of destructive vandalism in the Arches National Monument confines has forced park officials to chain the entrance of the scenic attraction and ban visitors from the area from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.," the newspaper reported.
Signs destroyed, toilets filled with rocks, extreme litter and damage to a foot bridge were all acts of vandalism prompting the action.
Of course, this closure didn't last for long. The place was designated a National Park in 1971 and by then, vandalism had eased up.

                                                                   Photo by Liz Arave Hafen.
-Delicate Arch, the most famous icon in the park, was originally called "The Chaps" by area cowboys. "Bloomer's" was another nickname for the feature as well.
It looks likely that it was in 1934 that the feature was dubbed "Delicate Arch." The local newspaper, the Times Independent, called the feature "a beautiful delicate arch" in a January 18, 1934 story. That name stuck and sounded far better than the other two monikers.
Hiking to Delicate Arch was far different prior to 1953. A different trail was used then that required the use of handrails. It was in 1953 that the current trail was implemented, where it accesses the Arch from the north.

                       Today's trail over slickrock to Delicate Arch.

-To access Arches before 1939, today's back entrance -- far north of today's main entrance -- was often used. The road off Highway 191 at a low point of what was then known as Moab Canyon, was then built steeply up the mountain side.

That road was extended in 1948 to reach past Delicate Arch and to Devil's Garden. By 1958, that road was paved. However, it would be the late 1980s before the side road to the Delicate Arch trailhead and lookout were also paved.

Utah's Quirky Place Names

                  "Schoolmarm's Bloomers Arch"? It could have been ...

UTAH definitely has its share of quirky place names: Tooele (is that Tool or Two-lee?), Carcass Canyon, the Confusion Mountains . . . Joe and His Dog?

But if some of the monikers bestowed by early settlers had caught on, the state would have some even weirder names on its maps.

How about "The Schoolmarm's Bloomers" as unofficial state symbol?

Would you consider settling down in lovely E.T. City, Frogtown, Neversweat, Ragtown or Sober City?

And obviously, the Unknown Mountains couldn't hold that name for long.

"We do have some unusual names," said Tracy Cayford, communications director for the Utah Travel Council. "The mixture is really interesting."

Delicate Arch is certainly a more P.R.-savvy name for that popular attraction in Arches National Park. But to early cowboys, the natural feature that graces thousands of Utah license plates (and many a coffee-table book) was known indelicately as the Schoolmarm's Bloomers. It also had other nicknames, such as "Cowboy Chaps" and "Mary's Bloomers."

Fairfield, west of Utah Lake in Utah County, can be thankful it is no longer Frogtown. Austin in Sevier County also was once known as Frog Town, for the plentiful amphibians in the nearby Sevier River.

Sevier County's Vermillion, too, can bless the stars that it has outgrown the name of Neversweat, a reference to its high summer heat and humidity.

"Ragtown" was the original name for Magna (which also, for some reason, surrendered its attractive second title, "Pleasant Green"). And "Sober City" was first applied, tongue in cheek, to Gusher in Uintah County because, it is said, of the residents' drunkenness.

The Henry Mountains in Garfield County were the last mountain range in the country to be named in 1869. Earlier they were listed as the Unknown Mountains.

Cayford said many of Utah's more unusual names stem from the state's extensive pioneer heritage.

"The major destinations for tourists here are pretty self-explanatory," Cayford said. "Some in the outlying areas require explanations."

The book "Utah Place Names," by John W. Van Cott, is a most complete directory to the state's communities and landscapes.

Here are some other surprising place-name origins:

• Adventure. Now there's a hometown with an inviting name. Or is it? Utah's Adventure, founded in 1860 along the Virgin River, is now a ghost town. Residents felt it adventurous to live there, what with flooding and other desert conditions. It was abandoned and Rockville was founded — upriver — after the town was flooded.
• Baptist Draw, in Emery County, received its name when early settler Joe Swasey "baptized" his dog by tossing it into one of the draw's water pockets.
• Bottle Hollow, Uintah County, was so named because it was a mile-long dump for empty liquor bottles of U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Duchesne in the 1880s.
• China Lake in Summit County got its name either after a Chinese man and his mule drowned in it or because it was said you could sink down to China before reaching the bottom of the deep lake.
• Deadman Ridge, Garfield County, got the title after Myron Shurts was killed by lightning there in 1912.
• And Beaver County's Gorilla Ridge received that name after prospectors in the area saw an unshaven miner they thought to be a gorilla.
• (-From a Deseret News article by Lynn Arave on Dec. 25, 2000.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net