Changes in geographical feature names in Zion National Park; Plus, more history

                                                  A 1919 map of Zion Canyon.
HERE's a look at some of the natural feature names that have changed at Zion National Park, since its earliest days of the pioneers:

-RASPBERRY BEND: This was the original name for the "Big Bend" in Zion Canyon.

                                                Looking down on today's "Big Bend," from above.


-EL GOBERNADOR: This was the earliest of titles for the Great White Throne.

-WYLIE CAMP: This was the name of the first public camping place in Zion. This was essentially a tent camping resort and is approximately located where the Zion Lodge is today.

-THE THREE PATRIARCHS: This name has been modified over the decades and today the Court of the Patriarchs in the most common title for the area.

-THE STREAKED WALL and THE BROWN WALL: The "desert varnish of colors in the rock walls of Zion were originally labeled as this. The Streaked Wall was on the west side of the canyon and the Brown Wall was on the east. These were located between today's Zion Lodge on the north and the East and West Temples on the south.

(SOURCES: Comparing a 1919 Zion map from the Ephraim Enterprise newspaper of Nov. 22 that year, with modern maps.

-MORE HISTORY: The Zion Tunnel was constructed from 1927-1930. This 1.1-mile-long tunnel shortened the distance between Zion and Bryce national parks by some 70 miles. The tunnel was dedicated on July 4, 1930, but had to be closed just over two years later because of a significant rock fall. According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Sept. 28, 1932, the tunnel was closed for three days when 12,000 cubic feet of rock fell between the west portal and the first gallery. Engineers actually set off the blast that cause the rock fall while they were enlarging the size of the tunnel to make room for reinforcements.
Besides regular maintenance closures, a sandstone pillar in the tunnel unexpectedly collapsed in 1958 and caused a three-week closure. Since then, according to the National Park Service, the tunnel is now monitored 24 hours a day to look for such problems.

-BEFORE 1930, there was no good road from Utah to Flagstaff, Arizona. Taking the railroad there was still the easiest option. By the spring of 1930, Arizona had created a good road from Flagstaff to Cameron. The road from Fredonia/Kanab to Jacob's Lake was in the works and the road down from there to Cameron was also in the works. This was according to the Salt Lake Tribune of April 20, 1930.

-Eden Park was the a short-lived resort in Bountiful, created by Simon Bamberger, before he moved his Farmington resort, "Lakeside," eastward to become today's Lagoon. The Salt Lake Herald newspaper of June 15, 1894 reported that Fred W. Milverton and A.H. Stewart of Salt Lake City submitted the winning name for the new resort as "Eden." It opened on June 16 that year, with music, dancing and bowery. Passenger trains accessed the resort for 35 cents roundtrip for adults and 20 for children.
The Davis County Clipper of June 28, 1894 reported that the resort had 2,000 visitors the second weekend it was open and that it also had a "rustic bridge." 
On July 24, Pioneer Day, of 1894, the Salt Lake Herald stated that the resort hosted a baseball game and had prizes for the winners in a men's foot race, a boy's foot race, a fat men's race, a wheelbarrow race and a sack race. There were also prizes for the best recitations, both comic and serious. There was also a dance contest and fireworks.
The main reason that Eden Park only lasted about one year and was closed by the mid-summer of 1895, was listed in the Salt Lake Herald of May 8, 1910:
 Eden Park had no water or boating and so Bamberger looked further north for a desirable location and found what he wanted in Lagoon at Farmington.
This Herald article also stated that there had been plans to pump salt water from the Great Salt Lake to Lagoon for a special briny bathing feature, but that never happened.

-KILLING wolves was normal in 1894 Utah. The Davis County Clipper of June 28, 1894 reported that Harvey Sessions, 15, and a younger brother, plus Joseph Garrett, 8, were hunting in Birch Hollow of Mill Creek Canyon, east of Bountiful. They came up six young wolverines. They shot and killed three of them and wounded another.

-FROM Hooper to Kaysville, there was nothing in between from the 1850s until the start of the 20th Century. The Utah Mining Gazette newspaper of Salt Lake reported on Sept. 27, 1873, that a man tried to jump a train between Hooperville (early Hooper name) and Kaysville, but slipped and the train wheels crushed his foot.
The Salt Lake Evening Democrat newspaper of May 9, 1887 stated, "Your Ogden scribe took a pleasant and interesting trip to the salt works between Hooper and Kaysville on Sunday ..." Before the 20th Century, there was Ogden, Hooper and Kaysville, with no other towns in between. There was no Layton, Syracuse, West Point, Clinton, Clearfield, Sunset or Roy. They all came later.

Condos and homes on Fremont Island?

                 Fremont Island is not much of an island these days, with a low Great Salt Lake.

ARE condos in the future for Fremont Island in the Great Salt Lake?

They WERE a distinct possibility.

(See 2 updates below ...)

In 2018, "Diesel Brother" Dave Sparks headed a financial group which purchased the Island from the Richards Family of Salt Lake, who had owned Fremont since the 1960s, or earlier.
When the Diesel Brother and group bought the Island, they stated on Facebook:
 "We have big, aggressive plans to open the island up for visitors from all around the world to come experience a piece of the Wild West. I hope that all of you can someday join us for an island adventure including summer concerts, offroad racing, horseback riding, camping, exploring, shooting, etc!"

No mention of condos on the island in that proclamation, but they likely have some specific plans to open up Fremont to limited public usage, or their investment yields nothing.
The Island's owners planned a January 11, 2020 bus trip to the Isle to apparently kickstart their development plans.

                   The start of the sandbar leading to Fremont Island.

If condos, or any housing (like a hotel for visitors) were to be added there, access would be a key dilemma. With a low level of the Great Salt Lake, the Diesel Brother group has a souped up bus, with giant oversized tires, called "The Freedom Bus," which can easily traverse the famous sandbar to Fremont Island, that is found off the causeway to Antelope Island.
Yet, the bus only provides limited access to the Island. And, if another causeway-- like the one leading to Antelope Island -- were built to Fremont, that would likely cost millions of dollars.
Drinking water, sewage and electricity would be other essentials there. 
For Antelope Island, the power lines are buried along the causeway to the Island. Where would Fremont's power lines go?
The shortest access would be from Promontory Point South, across Great Salt Lake water, or from Hooper westward. Taking at least power and water lines to the Isle would again be very expensive projects.
There are some small brackish type of water wells on Fremont, but whether they can produce adequate water is unclear.

             The Kit Carson Cross on the north end of Fremont Island.

Hooper City incorporated Fremont Island into its boundaries when it incorporated in the year 2000. Any developments on the Island would have to be approved by the City.
Fremont is home to the Kit Carson, Cross, likely the oldest Catholic or Christian relic in Utah. It also has some graves and the foundation to an old 19th Century home.
Sheep, cattle and horses have all grazed on Fremont Island over the decades. Wild Shetland ponies also roamed the Island until the 1990s.

                                     The Wenner Family graves on Fremont Island.

When the Richards Family obtained Fremont Island, they had dreams of its becoming the Utah version of Alcatraz Island, a prison.
(That's because a Salt Lake grave robber, Jean Bapiste, was exiled there.)
When a prison seemed unlikely there, the Richards Family hoped Fremont could be a state park, like Antelope Island is. That never happened either.

UPDATE: As of November 2020, a non-profit group, Palladium Foundation of Salt Lake has purchased Fremont Island, with the intent of preserving it as open, undeveloped land. No housing or condos! (However, before the purchase, 10,000 to 12,000 homes were planned for Fremont, though water supply and access were obvious roadblocks for any large scale development.)

ANOTHER UPDATE: As of December 2020, Fremont Island is now owned by the State of Utah, after more than 150 years of various private owners.

--All photographs above by Lynn Arave, who has visited Fremont Island four times, once by canoe, once by boat, and twice on foot.