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.

Is there a face visible on the west side of Salt Lake's Ensign Peak?

    There's a face of some sort on the west side of Ensign Peak.           Photograph by Ray Boren



IS there a face on the west side of Ensign Peak, north of downtown Salt Lake City?
Retired Deseret News editor and long-time Capitol Hill neighborhood resident Ray Boren said to him it resembles a St. Bernard dog, not a human face at all.
Looking at Boren's photograph (shown above), there is definitely a face or resemblance of some sort there, probably depends on one's own imagination what it appears to be ...
However, it was a different story a century ago:
"Salt Lake has a 'Great Stone Face'; It's Irish" was a June 26, 1918 headline in the Salt Lake Herald newspaper.
The story credits Miss Mary Elizabeth Downey, State Library organizer, for first noticing the face on the side of the historic Utah mountain peak. Working at the State Capitol Building, she had a clear window view of Ensign Peak, back when there was little housing development to the north.
"I an generally rather dense in seeing such things, but I confess this struck me instantly," Downey told the Herald newspaper. "The fact that the afternoon shadows grow longer, the profile is merely intensified adds to its charm. Tourists would be delighted to be shown this phenomenon of 'The Laughing Irishman.' He is standing guard over Ensign Peak as a sentry and is laughing at us little folk, working like ants in the great city below."

              Ensign Peak as seen from State Street and South Temple Street.

             The view from atop Ensign Peak, looking west toward the "Face" (not visible).
.

A giant Cross almost ended up atop Salt Lake's Ensign Peak; Also suggested for Timpanogos Peak

                                 Ensign Peak, center, and left of the Utah State Capitol.



By Lynn Arave

A giant cement cross almost ended up on the top of Ensign Peak in 1916 -- and was even suggested for Timpanogos Peak instead.

"Church is granted permit to place cross on peak" was a May 25, 1916 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper.
The Salt Lake City Commission had voted 4-1 to grant the request "to erect a reinforced concrete cross on Ensign Peak, as a memorial to the pioneers and to typify that 'This is the place.'"
C.W. Nibley, Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had petitioned the Commission with the request.
"Cross to be built upon Ensign Peak" was a May 26, 1916 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Commissioner W.H. Shearman cast the only opposing vote and said that the proposal had already generated too much controversy. He said the American Flag along should grace the top of the peak.

                         Today's trail up the east side of Ensign Peak.

Why didn't the cross ever get built?

-"Jews are opposed to cross on peak" was a May 23, 1916 Salt Lake Tribune headline. Two Rabbis argued that public ground is not the place for a religious symbol of any type and that it would not be a symbol representative of all citizens of Salt Lake City. They also stated that such a public cross would arouse bitterness and destroy a united spirit of citizenship in the City.

-"Religion should not be advertised on the mountain tops, but rather should be housed in the human heart," Rabbi William Rice stated.

- In a counter argument, Commissioner Karl A. Scheid stated:
"That the Mormon Church, which has so frequently and
So unjustly been accused of not being a Christian church at all, should volunteer to place Christianity's most sacred emblem on Ensign Peak, that place so hallowed by the memory of pioneers days, is to my mind and event of first importance."

-Eventually even LDS Church Apostle Orson F. Whitney spoke against a cross on Ensign Peak. He said the cross was a Catholic symbol and that if it should be placed anywhere, it should be on Mount Timpanogos, in memory of Father Escalante -- the first White Man known to visit Utah Valley. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 30, 1916).

-Utah State Senator George H. Dern (also eventually a Utah Governor) proposed that Utah should construct a giant concrete cross in Utah over the entire state. That is, highway-wise Utah should build a 16-foot-wide concrete road that goes from the north end of Utah at the Idaho line to the south end of the state at Arizona; and another road from the Colorado line to Nevada -- and this a giant "cross" covering the entire state -- one that would open the state to travel and tourism and a "cross" that would not be controversial. (Salt Lake Tribune May 24, 1916).

-The proposal for the cross on Ensign Peak was challenged in the local courts and eventually the plan just faded away -- probably, mainly because of the concerns of the non-LDS Churches in Salt Lake.

                    The eventual non-controversial pioneer monument atop Ensign Peak today.

The current monument atop Ensign Peak was built in the mid-1930s, with the first stone  laid in July of 1934.

The former hobo ‘jungle’ around Ogden

“HOBOES are caught in the jungles” was a June 13, 1911 headline in the Standard-Examiner.

This was NOT an international story. It was about Weber County some 104 years ago.

In 1911, the Ogden area had a so-called “jungle district” in the Wilson Lane area, west of town, full of what the story described as “undesirable visitors” (or hoboes).

This story stated that these weren’t hardened criminals, but at night some of them would raid chicken coops and gardens in the area.

Some of the hoboes then got arrested and her put on chain gangs which repaired roads in the county.

“The sheriff is of the opinion that the road work will have something to do with eliminating the hobo from the city,” the story stated.

Apart from hoboes, in 1911, the Standard also often referred to the Wilson Lane area as its own separate community of homes, in the same sense as Riverdale, Hooper or North Ogden.

In other historical tidbits:

-“Wild girl of the woods is found,” was an Aug. 11, 1905 Standard headline. “Is arrested with three boys in the brush. Was living like an animal. Was half clothed and tells disconnected story.”

Grace Witcherily, a young girl, was found by police along the Weber River, west of town. She said she had been led after a circus in town. Men working on the Sand Ridge Cutoff, likely in the area of today’s west 30-31^st Streets, had provided her some food and clothing.

It was believed her mother was in Salt Lake City and efforts were made to find her.

                  Summit of Ensign Peak, north of Salt Lake City

-Ensign Peak, straight north of downtown Salt Lake City, is one of Utah’s most historic mountains. It was perhaps the first mountain climbed by the Mormon Pioneers after their arrival. An Aug. 9, 1908 story in the Salt Lake Herald talked about plans to develop Peak as a park.

The story also mentioned that on the left side of the Peak was “The Cave,” or “Cave Comfort” as it was called. It also said “Tally Ho Ridge” was located right behind the Peak and it led to higher mountain tops.

It also said there was once “Maiden Falls” was located in one the hollows around the Peak. However, that feature was destroyed by vandals. “Rain Cave” was also located nearby and was graced by same spring water.

Far below Ensign Peak was what was called “The Narrows,” a gully with a large sand pit. In that era, cattle roamed the area, north of where the State Capitol Building would open in 1916.

The story mentioned the great views of the valley from the mound-shaped peak, which was about 1,000 feet above the valley floor. Brigham Young was the first to talk of a possible park being made there. However, it would not be until 1996 that a park was finally established there, complete with a set trail to the 5,414-foot above sea level summit.

(-Originally published on-line and in-print in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on May 7-8, 2015, by Lynn Arave.)

-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

Utah's Historic 'Mount Sinai' -- Ensign Peak

By Lynn Arave

IT'S Utah's most sacred mountain - kind of the state's own version of Mount Sinai. At an elevation of 5,414 feet, this mound-shaped peak located behind the Utah State Capitol is only about 1,100 feet above the city streets - far lower than most other Wasatch mountain peaks. However, no other Utah mountain probably has a more significant religious history.

Consider the following:- According to President George A. Smith, first counselor in the First Presidency, Brigham Young had a vision of Joseph Smith and Mount Ensign while in the Nauvoo Temple, prior to leaving the East:

"President Young had a vision of Joseph Smith, who showed him the mountain that we now call Ensign Peak, immediately north of Salt Lake City, and there was an ensign [thatT fell upon that peak, and Joseph said, `Build under that point where the colors fall and you will prosper and have peace.' " (From an address given in the "new" tabernacle on June 20, 1869.)

                     Ensign Peak, center, as seen from Eagle Gate.

President Joseph F. Smith provided a similar description 13 years later:

[Brigham Young] "had before seen an ensign descend and light upon the mountain peak, which is now called from that circumstance - `Ensign Peak' - which was an indication to him that this was the resting place God designed for His people." (From an address given in the Provo Tabernacle on Dec. 3, 1882.)

The Mormon Pioneers arrived in Utah on Saturday, July 24, 1847. They spent all of the next day, Sunday, resting and worshiping God. However, on July 26, one of the first tasks attempted was to climb what is now known as Ensign Peak to get a better look at the valley and probably also to see first-hand the mountain in President Young's vision.

Among those pioneers who made that first climb were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson, Albert Carrington and William Clayton. (The party used horses to make the first two-thirds of the climb, then dismounted and went on foot.)

Elder Woodruff was the first to reach the summit and President Young, still ill (and barely able to make it to the top with help), was likely the slowest climber. On top of the peak, President Young said, "Here is a proper place to raise an ensign to the nations." This is a reference to the scriptures where it mentions an "Ensign." (Isa. 5:26, D&C 105:39) These scriptural references are likely the inspiration for the peak's name. (They're also the source for the name of one of the Church's modern monthly magazines, The Ensign.)

The men then reportedly unfurled an ensign of liberty to the world. What an "ensign" means here is unclear. Perhaps the most common dictionary definition of an ensign is a flag or banner - specifically a national flag. But most historians are quick to point out that despite recurring myths, there's no evidence that a U.S. flag was raised on Ensign Peak at the climax of that first climb. Another definition of ensign is simply a badge or symbol, in accordance with a synonym of the word: insignia.

(The pioneers did raise a U.S. flag in the valley below as early as October of 1847, a significant act since Utah was technically still Mexican soil. The U.S. flag was definitely flown on Ensign Peak, complete with a 21-gun salute, on July 24, 1897, from a special flagpole - about six months after Utah was admitted to the union - in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the pioneer's arrival. A similar celebration was held on Ensign Peak, 50 years later in 1947.)

- Not long after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Ensign Peak was also used for a brief period as an outdoor temple until the "Endowment House" was constructed.

- Ensign Peak has also had its controversial moments. For example, on Feb. 23, 1925, the Klu Klux Klan surprised Salt Lake residents by burning a red cross on the peak. The Klan also unexpectedly burned more crosses on the peak and had an initiation ceremony, less than two months later in April of 1925.

The peak and its monuments have also been the target of periodic vandalism.

- There's an 18-foot-tall monument on Ensign Peak, placed there on July 26, 1934, by the Salt Lake Ensign Stake Mutual Improvement Associations. Stones gathered from all along the Mormon Trail are incorporated into the rock monument. Although many inscriptions on the monument are no longer visible, such lettering as "Kolob" and "Logan Temple" are still readable.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Deseret News, July 20, 1991.)



-Additionally, an August 19, 1946 story in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper reported on the sad death of a Salt Lake girl who fell to their death off the cliffs located northwest of Ensign Peak.
This report included a map that identifies the rock cliffs directly west of Ensign Peak as being called "Hell's Hollow," And, a "Devil's Rock" was also identified as a part of "Hell's Hollow." These colorful geological feature names seem to have been lost over the decades now.

-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